


Modern Mix

by happyseeker



Category: Undertale (Video Game), Undertale AU fandom
Genre: (in the past), Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempted Sexual Assault, But not for the purpose of rape, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Degradation, Depression, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Ecto-Penis (Undertale), Ecto-Tongue (Undertale), Gang Violence, Incest, It's only talked about, Like it's not THAT dark, M/M, Masturbation, Mild Self-Starvation, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Overdose, Past Childhood Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Sexual Tension, Sibling Incest, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Talk of unhealthy weight loss, This story sounds so dark but it's mostly the Swapfells im sorry, Undertale AU, Verbal Abuse, mention of cutting, mention of depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-04-29 19:03:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 132,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14479170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyseeker/pseuds/happyseeker
Summary: Eight skeletons, one crazy world, drama and incest; my, what could possibly go wrong?





	1. Thanksgiving

Once in a universe, not quite so far away, four pairs of skeleton brothers were born. They all bore a striking similarity to one another and three pairs even ended up living on the same street! Perhaps, in some other world, this would have been considered some kind of miracle but alas, in this particular world talking flowers and dinosaur scientists were not unheard of and so, no one batted an eye at the oddity. Six brothers, one street, and as a result; drama galore. They were all born to male monsters named Gaster, who each refused to address who their mother was, if she existed at all. Four of these brothers were named Sans. The Sanses are short and round, have a mighty round skull, which I fancy is like a loveable peanut. Their brothers, paired up one to one, are the Papyruses. They are tall and have long legs, bones like iron. They're lanky and possess broad rib cages you could probably fit your head into. Not that you would do that, that's just bizarre. We'll assign nicknames to everyone because it will make things much less confusing, and because we are perhaps a little cruel.

The first Gaster is Mr. Fell, he lives in the very first house on the Snowpoff Street and is a cruel old fella. He is the kind of neighbor that would never pick up his dog's droppings and sometimes left his sprinkler on too close to the sidewalk. Oh and would threaten to shoot you if you stepped a foot on his property without permission. Classic Sans actually got shot at once while trying to get a basketball his Papyrus had been playing with. Dr.Gaster, or Mr.Classic, was so upset he called the police and it was a whole wild event that stirred the neighborhood up violently. That brings us to the next Gaster; he lived in the house right next to Mr.Fell, and you may call him Classy-Gast if you want but not to his face please. He is a put-together intellectual who works as a scientist at a nearby research facility, wears all black, and is a very formal and polite man. Then up the street, about two houses, is Mr. Swap.

Mr. Swap is a colorful, bright man, who is very different from Mr.Classic and Mr.Fell. He wore only the brightest colors and their were rampant rumors that he was homosexual, but no one ever had the guts to ask him directly, for Mr.Swap was. . .intense. Only his children really understood him and sometimes even they were left scratching their heads. This brings us to the boys, our Sanses and Papyruses. The heroes, or probably in the Fells' case, the villains of this story.

We ironically do not even start on the street I just explained to you. We start in a cramped dorm room where the lights are always left dimmed and there is way too much porn under the bed for any normal individual to inhabit it. The curtains were drawn today, but that wasn't unusual. He wasn't a fan of sunshine. Sans munched on mustard flavored pretzels like they were god-sent at his computer desk. He sat in his swivel chair with a gray seat and bulky wheels, hunched forward with the trademark posture of any Sans, minusing Swap's son. He was currently reading about a famine in some far off country and found the article quite dull. He wasn't reading it to be a better global citizen, oh that was a laughable concept, no, it was required research for a class he was taking. He wasn't a fanatic about studying but he didn't want to drop out, not after how much shit he had to push through to get here. To be free. . .A buzz sounded and an alert slid into the top corner of his computer screen.

His eye lights lazily glanced to it and the alert read 'The Great Douche' is inviting you to a video call. He clicked the x button in the corner of the message and returned to the dull reading. He had gotten through not a half paragraph more when another message of the same text appeared, this time he hesitated a moment longer, then dismissed the message. Another message immediately appeared and Sans made a face of distaste. Frick, he's persistent, he thought and scratched behind his skull with one of his stout hands. Wiping the flavored dust from his mouth and straightening his black hoodie, he moved his cursor over the accept call button. He felt sweat form along his skull as memories he'd been trying to suppress for the past week sprung to mind. Maybe i shouldn't, he thought moving the cursor away. Abruptly, his phone buzzed in his hoodie pocket; he pulled it out to see a message from 'The Great Dick' on his lock screen. It read 'Answer me, you dickwad.'. Sans sighed and clicked the accept button on the chat invitation. The calling screen appeared, taking over the screen quickly; it had a black border, a large box with the connecting symbol, and a smaller box with his own face and shoulders in it. Sans sighed as the connecting symbol vanished and the face of his younger brother appeared, he knew it was too late to change his mind now. He had been dodging Edge for days, and now he begrudgingly accepted fate, knowing it had only a matter of time anyway. " You pick up when I call." Fell's Papyrus stated with clear anger in his voice. Sans, from the same parent, sometimes grew a magical red eye. Red smirked.

" you sound like such a girlfriend, dude." Papyrus sneered. " Maybe in your wet dreams." Sans felt himself stiffen, god his brother aggravated him. " well uh. . ." Sans wasn't the best with comebacks, " you're a dick."

" Whore."

" bitch."

" Cum-shot." Sans groaned, rubbing his skull in frustration and Edge, Fell Papyrus is quite edgy, smirked. Red never did have the patience he possessed. " I called to talk about Thanksgiving." Edge explained and Sans felt a spike of panic.

" no!"

" . . .No?" Papyrus responded, with a face that told Sans he had never before heard a statement so impudent. Sans felt his shoulders sink downward, his brother was so fucking dramatic. " y-yeah, i think it's better if we don't dwell on it-" Papyrus frowned, displeased, as his older brother continued, " it was fuckin' crazy and f-fucked up." Red gripped the arms of his seat in distress and discomfort. " it's better to just pretend it never happened. . ." He stared down at his floorboards with a look of pain. Papyrus huffed, " I can't." Sans looked up; shocked. " I won't." Edge continued, " I'm going to talk about it because I want to. You can't stop me!" he finished defiantly.

" come on, boss! ya know it's for the best!" Red fought with a pleading look. Boss was a nickname Papyrus had invented for himself when he was eleven, after he had found out he could beat Sans in fights. He demanded to be called that and would beat the shit out of Sans if he slipped up. Papyrus wouldn't physically punish other names now, but the nickname had just kind of stuck around. " I do not." Papyrus stated, crossing his long arms stubbornly, " I liked it."

" . . .wait WHAT?!" Sans exclaimed, blushing, " d-don't say shit like that!"

" But I did." Edge replied and his mouth curved upward with arrogance, " I liked making you my bitch." Sans shrunk, his soul feeling a dose of humiliation. " s-shut up." he retorted and Papyrus crossed his fingers and laid his jaw along them. " You know you liked it too." he returned with an almost playfulness. Red felt his soul throb.

" i-i didn't!" he proclaimed and Papyrus rolled his eyes. " How many years have you been dreaming about that, Sans?" he asked with a prideful smirk and Sans growled, " never! ever! no way, you're fucking gros-"

" Sans." Papyrus stated and Sans felt himself freeze, his boss' voice had lowered to a darker volume. " You're mine. It's already too late. I claimed you." Sans felt himself grow hot beneath his shorts. That was. . .kinda hot. " You really have been mine for a long time. . ." Papyrus explained casually, for a moment his voice slipping to a less serious tone before returning, " We just. . . signed the official paperwork the other day." Sans felt his eye sockets widen, that wasn't true, was it? He-he wasn't Edge's! Papyrus was just being fuckin’ delusional! I'm my own monster! Red thought with confused frustration. No WAY i'm Boss', even if i kinda, wanna be? He shook his head harshly. No, there's no freakin' way! Edge doesn't even understand the gravity of what he did! No way! This was all a giant mistake!

" you're so pompous!" Sans lashed out and he could tell Papyrus wasn't even listening anymore, just staring at him lustfully and contently. Some flush entered Red's skull. Boss never had looked at him like that before, that gaze was reserved for hot girls they saw at parties. Red had always secretly wanted that stare for himself. " i-i'm hanging up." he muttered, crossing his arms protectively in front of his chest. His pelvis was dangerously close to summoning up his dick as he moved one hand to his mouse.

" Do that and I'll come to the campus and fuck you over that shitty desk of yours'." Sans felt himself shudder, he almost lowered his hand to the mouse, because that punishment sounded so fucking good! But he didn't. His school was over four hours by car and he didn't want to inconvenience Papyrus. That's right, I don't want to inconvenience him?! What the fuck is wrong with me? he wondered in exasperation. The fact that some part of him WANTED something like that to happen again?! That was just so- UGH! Red swore this stupid brother of his was going to drive him crazy. He cursed aloud.

" this is all that shitty old man's fault!" he snarled," if he hadn't made us sleep together!" Papyrus chuckled gently. " I think it's amusing he demolished your room the second after you left."

" well you get your 'lovely' sense of humor from him." Sans spat and Edge grinned, he could see how mad and confused and vulnerable his brother was feeling. He wished he could be there to show him the answer to his uncertainty, to show him his purpose. To be his and completely his. Papyrus sighed and then continued. " Anyway, continue your studies as you are doing, although I don't see why you're wasting your time on that stuff."

" global economics?" Sans questioned, feeling the sudden change of topic was odd. That couldn't really be all Edge had to say on the topic? Could it? 'You're mine'? That's it? Red thought with distress, why not 'What is the social and emotional impact of such a decision and what does it say about how we have been raised and the long, unhealthy relationship we have had with each other for years? Do we really love each other or was it a crazy act of lust never to repeated again? We shouldn't be doing something like that! The best way for us to become better monsters is to spend as little time with each other as possible, i need to apart from you! why do you make it so HARD?! why do i consistently want your dick up my ass?! i don't understand what is WRONG with me?!' Edge shook his head no. 

" No, higher education." Sans made a face of confusion." When we're older you're not going to be doing any work outside the house." Edge explained, " Your only concern will be which lingerie I currently want you in." Sans felt his skull explode into an ocean of red and wanted to slam his head against the desk and then explode! Why did his brother do THIS to him?! It wasn't FAIR! He was filled with somehow even more horror as his red small cock formed, tenting the fabric of his shorts.

"y-you're such a pervert." Sans mumbled quietly, staring off at the messy wooden floor of his dorm room, holding a small curled hand over his mouth. Edge thought he looked so sheepishly adorable like that, COMPLETELY unaware and uncaring as to the mess in Red's head. Papyrus was like that. Things were more simple and straightforward in his mind.

" Ha! Takes one to know one!" he quickly retorted, " Anyhoo, you can jerk off to that later, I have one last order of business before I end this call." Sans felt his hand open and hide his face in embarrassment and disbelief. " and what is that?" he gritted out, hoping his voice sounded strained from anger and not lust, which was somewhat of the case. " I need you to tell Stretch he owes me." Sans unhid his face. " tell that loser what?" he inquired and for some reason felt bitter at Boss even mentioning another monster. " He never paid me for the last twenty sack he got from me." Edge answered; Sans blinked.

" you let him walk away without the money in your hand?" he questioned and Edge felt unhappiness that his brother was seemingly questioning his business practices. " Excuse you, his dad was walking up the stairs and he couldn't find his wallet. It's a no surprise either, his room looks like yours', or at least how yours' did look. . ." Papyrus explained, thinking of the contradiction now that Red's room no longer existed. Sans frowned, he still couldn't believe Gaster had turned his room to rubble.

" T-the point is-" Edge continued, being reminded of an awkward moment he never wanted to relive, " get Stretch to send me the money or reassure him he's a dead man." Sans huffed out some air. He hated being the message man, when he lived at home his brother often made him go out and remind late clients their bills were due; which lead to a more than a few beating which Sans was the victim of. Druggies didn't really respect the 'don't shoot the messenger' line. He was, needless to say, slightly annoyed. He thought he had finally gotten away from his brother's sketchy business deals.

" k." he agreed, not wanting to argue with Edge about something so minor, Stretch was a total dork but Sans had never seen him hurt a fly, it would be pretty easy. " Good. I'll be in touch." Edge said curtly and then ended the call, leaving Sans to lean back into his chair with a deep, exhausted sigh. He felt his hand hover over his erection but knowing he had to go tell a pothead he was in debt later was really killing his sexual appetite. Not to mention the monsoon of moral questions in his head. He stood and stretched, he guessed he'd take a cold shower instead.


	2. I need my bong but I left it at home

" no Sans, come on, bro. it's not that big a deal." Papyrus fought weakly, sweat along his skull. " Not a big deal?!” a deeper voice shouted, “ My little brother is a DRUG ADDICT!" Sans continued angrily, his volume scream-level. Stretch winced at the noise and momentarily pulled the phone away from the side of his skull. Forgetting his bong at home is officially one of the stupidest mistakes he'd ever made, and in his personal opinion, that was saying something, because he had made some stupid ass decisions in his existence.

Swap's two sons were currently involved in a phone debate worthy of a mighty epic." no, no, i'm not a drug addict. you're being dramatic." the younger brother, Papyrus, pleaded.

" Dramatic?!" Oh boy, Stretch thought, Swap's youngest son was extra tall, even for a Papyrus, so he been given the nickname pretty early on in his life. Everything about this conversation is a mistake, he continued, oh well at least Sans had finally stopped crying. God, all this made Stretch so uncomfortable, he hadn't meant to upset his brother! He hadn't wanted to be a disappointment. . .he sighed heavily and brought his hand to massage the skull bone between his sockets and teeth. At least he had finally convinced his brother out of calling the police. " I-I have to tell Dad!" Sans suddenly exclaimed and Stretch frowned deeply. " please don't do that, Sans. can't this be our special brother secret?" he gently beseeched.

" Our special brother secret is that you're a DRUG ADDICT?!" Stretch rubbed some uneasy tension from his neck vertebrae. " i'm not addicted, bro. . ." he explained and Blue, Swap's eldest wore his favorite color every single day, made a disbelieving face. " I'm sure that's what a lot of drug addicts say!" he cried, stamping a foot wildly. Papyrus leaned back against the bus stop's bench. The sun shined down right outside of Stretch's refuge, the concrete overhanging above the bench being good protection from the glaring son. He had gotten the passionate call on his way to the mess hall. It was an unusually hot day on campus, so Stretch didn't feel like wandering all the way back to his shared dorm. Just it was, so far. The cafe would be loud, so he plopped down on the first seat he had found.

" no really, i just do weed, bro. ya can't get addicted to that stuff."

" . . .Are you sure, brother?" Sans asked with a sniffle and Stretch felt guilt in his soul. " please don't cry again, Sans. you know i hate that." he sighed, " listen i'm sure, ok?"

" Well where did you even get that 'reliable' information from?" Sans questioned, some displeasure rising back up in his voice. Papyrus scratched behind his skull awkwardly, as he realized it was from his drug dealer. " um. . .a reliable source?" he responded without much confidence. Sans huffed loudly. " Well you need to do research, brother, REAL research!" he demanded, figuring his lazy brother had probably given up after the first half-done wikipedia article. He gripped the blue handkerchief that hung around his neck with strong anxiety. He didn't like this at all! His little brother was probably in real danger! And he couldn't even be there to protect him! Why did Pappy have to go so far away?! Blue wondered with worry-full pining. The Swap boys had been at this for about 20 minutes, little being actually accomplished with each exchange. Sans would declare something dramatic or outraged and Stretch would calmly and pathetically say everything was fine, skating around any angry questions about how he could have done something 'so unbelievably irresponsible that Asgore would CRY if he heard it!'.

" ok, ok! i will, ok?" If it'll make ya stop freakin' out, jeez, Papyrus thought, blowing out some air between his teeth. " And-and. . ." Sans began quietly, " you need to b-be safe. . ." he added and his deep voice trembled slightly. Stretch felt the guilt pool up to neck and he stood up to keep himself from drowning. " i-i promise i'll stay safe." he replied, " i'm not helpless, Sans. i can take care of myself." Blue sighed deeply, counting to ten to calm himself.

" . . .O-Ok but if I find anything else drug related I-I'm going to um. . .I'm going to uh. . .be very upset! I-I might even cry again! I know you hate it when I cry." Sans threatened and Papyrus thought it was the most precious threat he'd ever heard. It was hard to take his brother seriously when he said endearing things like that.

" alright, i promise you won't find anything else. . ." Unless i forgot something else, Papyrus mentally added with dryness, " why were you in my room anyway?" he asked. Sans suddenly tensed and shifted back and forth on his feet.

" Um. . .the magnificent Sans misses you." the elder confessed and Stretch felt his breath hitch. Forbidden feelings seeped into his ribs, he shook his head desperately to banish them away. " a-aw i miss ya too, bro." he replied, pushing the familiar 'bro' card. Sans frowned and nibbled at his fingers of his free hand. He hated how much he missed Papyrus. His brother was trying to move on and make something of his life and he-he was stuck in the past; this old house, this old street, these old memories. . .he thought it was selfish how much he missed his brother and how much he wanted him here. . .

" W-Well," Blue began, wiping a tear or two that had found his eyes, " I better hear from you soon! Make sure you do that research! O-Or I'll do it myself!" He was actually going to do it either way." Alright?"

" alright." Stretch agreed, " i will, talk to ya later, bro." The bus pulled around the corner and the sun reflected off it's windshield brightly, blinding Papyrus for a moment. It halted at the campus bus stop with the squeak of wheels and the rumble of its engine, a few people got off as Blue replied. " I love you! Bye-bye!" Stretch flushed, a little flustered by the statement. Though it was stupid to be so, Sans ended every a phone conversation like that; Papyrus really wished he didn't. A younger child paused in front of the bench as Stretch began to trip over his reply, a few other monsters wandered off and away; chatting calmly. " i uh i-love you too." Blue smiled happily, he didn't want to bother his brother anymore.

" See you!" Blue hung up. . .and stared at the floor as he lowered his phone to his side. Papyrus' stuff was all around him. A frameless mattress, an old desk, a self-sustaining tornado of trash. His messy room exactly the way the lazybones had left it. The recently discovered bong laid across the dirty mattress, where it had been thrown upon in the shocked aftermath of its discovery. If Papyrus was still at home, Blue would have cleaned this place because he couldn't stand the mess! But since Pappy was gone. . .Sans felt himself look around with sadness. An illogical part of him feared if he cleaned the mess, the last few signs of his brother's presence here, Pappy would fade all together.

Stretch sighed with exhaustion as he lowered his phone and slid it in his khaki's pocket. " Bus."

Stretch looked up and saw a human kid, about eleven in age, with tan caramel skin and dark, badly chopped hair that hung into their eyes. They wore a sweater of black and white horizontal stripes and black pants with simple jet shoes. " The bus." the kid repeated, " If you don't get on now, it'll leave." Papyrus blinked at them for a moment and then to the bus behind them.

" oh no, heh." Papyrus held out a dismissive hand, " i'm not gettin' on."

" . . . But you are at a bus stop." Papyrus chuckled.

" well maybe i'm BUSy with other things right now!" he shot finger guns. The kid didn't react for a long moment and then smiled calmly. " Good one. Are you a comedian?" they inquired. Stretch laughed lightly, he was standing now; looking down at the kid, you couldn't really help looking down on people when you were six' one''.

" a communications major actually." he replied and although it was funny, it also wasn't a joke. The kid smiled once more and asked, " What direction are you heading in?" Papyrus glanced at his watch, it was a few minutes late because he was too lazy to adjust it. " um . . .my next class i think? i don't know, i never seem to know what's going on." he confessed, cracking a likeable grin. The human child smiled in return. " Well I don't know where I'm heading either. Maybe we could walk together?" Papyrus shrugged.  
" sure, kiddo, why not?" he agreed as he began to walk alongside the human child, unlike some monsters he wasn't overly uncomfortable around humans, especially human children. His friend Asgore had an adopted human child named Chara that him and Sans' used to babysit all the time when he still lived in Snowdin. " what's a kid your age doin' here anyway? not a student, i hope. that would make me feel dumber than i already am." Stretch made small-talk with a lazy smile and lazier posture as they meandered along. The child smiled politely as they moved over the bright, white sidewalk with the tall skeleton, passing soccer fields and shade trees.

" I'm here to visit a friend who attends this campus."

" oh ok, cool kiddo. ya know, you remind me of another little kiddo i know." The child looked up to Stretch. " I do?"

" yeah, although Chara's hair is lighter i guess, and they wear green and yellow instead of black and white." he said absentmindedly, the child became slightly uncomfortable. " Ah, Chara." they responded and Papyrus asked, " ya know them?" They waved him off, " Probably somebody else of the same name."

" oh ok, that's cool kiddo."

" You also remind me of someone I know though." the human informed and Papyrus blinked." really? who?" he asked calmly. " Papyrus Gaster." they answered and Stretch felt some sweat form along his skull. " um, you're gonna have to be a little more specific." They grew surprised. " Really?" Papyrus sighed, this was why he went by Stretch. . .

" It really is quite interesting though," the kid commented, after the story had concluded, Papyrus nodded, " I mean what are the odds." they continued. " i think it's voodoo personally." Stretch said straightly and they looked to him curiously. Stretch cracked another grin. " i'm kidding." The child actually gave a small laugh and Stretch felt victory in his chest, he loved making people smile. He might actually consider becoming a comedian if he wasn't for all the reality in the way. To have any chance of getting big he'd have to travel to a larger city, regions away, and he wasn't sure how comfortable he felt with that. Plus he wasn't sure how he'd do in such a commercial environment, it wasn't about fame to him, it was just about people laughing and feeling good. Nothing made Papyrus happier than when a loved family member laughed at one of his puns or punchlines. When he actually got a giggle out of his bro, his soul skyrocketed through the roof. It felt better than even getting high. When Sans laughed, that was . . .nothing could compare to that.

" I see him!" Frisk suddenly exclaimed and Stretch looked over to a group of students, leaving one the larger buildings on campus, that held most of the soft science classes. " well have fun with your friend." Papyrus offered and the child smiled back and introduced, " I'm Frisk, by the way." Papyrus grinned and replied. " Papyrus, but i go by Stretch or Handsome more commonly." Frisk laughed gently again.

" Ok goodbye, Stretch." they started to wander away and then, " Wait, by the way," they paused to look back. Stretch blinked. " I wanted to say something. I wanted to say that you shouldn't be so nervous saying goodbye to your girlfriend." Huh? Stretch thought as Frisk continued with importance in their tone. " Saying 'I love you' is intimidating but it gets easier the more you say it. You shouldn't be so shy about something like that. You obviously love her, that's why you are nervous about it. I basically just wanted to inform you that it's normal to be nervous but," They smiled warmly. " you should try to relax. I believe in you." Stretch blinked widely and horror filled him; realizing exactly WHO Frisk was talking about. Frisk gave a thumb ups and grinned widely. They encouraged " Go get her, tiger." and then sprinted over to the crowd of exiting college students. Stretch stood stunned for a good minute and then laughed pathetically.

" i need to go back to my dorm." he said aloud, " i need a fuckin' blunt."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	3. Smashing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also! For anyone curious! I'll be updating this fic once a week. On Sat or Sun in the US. Do weeks work the same for everyone in the world? Wait, Australia is a day ahead of us, so no? Or yes? I don't really know. Anyway, yup, once a week! Hope you like it!

Alright I'll allow it, you can finally see it. The street that Swap Sans mourns on, Classic Sans dunks on, and Fell Papyrus . . .does business on? Three couples, oops, pairs, of brothers were raised on this street and it still holds four of them. I forgot about Classic’s Papyrus for a moment because he's away so often. Classic Sans was currently walking down the suburban street, finding himself a little chilly. He wore his usual blue hoodie but had wore his favorite jet shorts, leaving his legs exposed to the biting breeze. He kept his hands in his pockets protectively as he strolled long, his feet for once in clunky white tennis shoes. He would usually just wear his slippers about, unless of course, it couldn't be helped. Considering this walk was a good twenty minutes, it couldn't be helped. His eyes absentmindedly scanned the familiar street, small pines still gently breaking through green lawns, clouds still softly puffing by, the gray sidewalks still having enough cracks to seem well used but not enough to require repair. Not much changed around here. Suddenly a sharp, breaking noise startled him. He turned and saw the most peculiar, savage sight. One of his neighbors of similar stature bringing a sturdy wooden baseball bat down upon something glass; loud and hard on the hard cement of his dark driveway.

" Berry? what the frick?" he inquired quickly, momentarily shocked. He paused his stride. The only slightly shorter skeleton perked his head up, his vexed expression pulling quickly into something friendly.

" Oh wowzers Sans! I didn't see ya there!" Classic Sans blinked and looked around for a rainbow flying ice cream truck. . .proof that this was a dream.

" is that a . . .bong?" Sans asked, squinting at the shattered remnants on the asphalt. His twin in appearance frowned. " Shame on you for knowing what this is!" he scolded, whipping out a chiding pointer finger. " I had to look up what this. . .thing was." Blue continued, staring at the broken smoking device with disgust. Classic gave a weak, awkward chuckle." well ya know me, i'm always searching for information in . . . HIGH places." he winked brightly. Swap paused and then glared at Sans with an unhappy expression.

" No! No! No!" he protested, stamping one of his blue boots in frustration, " No puns! This is nothing to be joking about!"

" . . .you mean it's not a very. . .punny situation?" Berry gave a face of mortification and then a deep sigh. 

" . . .You really are just like Papyrus." he commented, staring down to the driveway with a sudden disheartened expression. Aw, Classic thought, poor little guy. Berry was basically his size but he was, well Berry! The guy who was nicknamed after something as cute and harmless as a blueberry. " you're missing your bro, huh?" Sans asked and Blue jumped.

" Huh?! Me? No-no, mweh heh heh! The magnificent Sans is very happy for his brother! That lazybones actually got accepted into a college, that's a big deal!" he grinned, forcedly, and Classic rolled his eyes, unimpressed. " it's ok to miss him, man." Classic reminded, " no one is gonna go after you for it." Blue felt his shoulders slump as Sans continued, " i miss my bro too." Swap blinked widely.

" But Papyrus is just going to Waterfall I thought?" he asked and Classic glanced down at the ground, eyes suddenly filling with a shimmer of sorrow. " yeah and he commutes one and a half hours every day, isn't that silly? my bro ought to just live on campus but i can tell. . ." Sans felt his soul seize in that sparkling trickle, he doesn't want to leave me. . .he finished his head. Blue smiled warmly.

" Papyrus sure is great!" he praised. Classic looked up with a surprised expression, he personally thought the decision was foolish. Papyrus was wasting valuable time and energy and for what? Was it out of pity? Pity for his hopeless, bum older bro? But Blue seemed to respect the choice and Sans would never speak ill of Papyrus. Classic scratched the back of his skull uncomfortably.

" he sure is." Some quiet fell between them and while Sans felt it was very awkward, Blueberry didn't mind it at all. Blue smiled politely as Classic stuttered over a question, " w-why the heck do you have a bong anyway? it doesn't seem quite like you, Blue. unless you've suddenly grown some bongs." Sans winked, Berry cringed. " . . .It's Stretch's." he finally answered, using the nickname Papyrus' friends called him. He wrapped his arms over each other and Sans could see how much distress was in the words. " I-I found it in his room. . ." Blue continued, " So. . .I smashed it up." Berry looked at the decimated bong with hatred.

" sorry man, that sounds upsetting." Sans offered sympathetically. He didn't personally have anything against weed but he quickly tried to imagine what it'd be like to discover some in his own Papyrus' room. He got how it would probably be distressing. " That naughty brother deserves a gosh darn spanking when he gets home!" Berry exclaimed, stamping his foot in anger, Classic chuckled gently. Now there was a funny image, considering Blueberry was the kindest guy he knew, other than his own Pap, and Stretch, was almost double his height. Berry 'tch'ed with his teeth.

Bringing a hand from his coat to gesture to the broken bong, Sans asked, " aren't you worried about your dad coming out and seeing this thing in the driveway? ya know, he might get the wrong idea?" Sans knew HIS dad would. Blinking, Blue shook his head no. " My dad has been in the basement for two days straight, I've been bringing him down food and water but it keeps ending up on his canvas?" Blue stated, scratching the bottom of his skull, curiously. Classic stiffened, sometimes he forgot how freakin' weird Stretch and Berry's dad was. " He says the visions are back and the gods are showing him what to paint." Classic took a step back uncomfortably. " I'm thinking about calling his doctor again but he's completely convinced she's working with the devil." Another step.

" w-well Blue, it was great catching up to you. good luck with your dad and your. . .bong? see ya!" Sans turned and returned his trek down the sidewalk. He wasn't just being antisocial, he was gonna be late to his lunch date with Papyrus if he didn't hurry. Blue grinned widely and hopped up and down, waving goodbye with enthusiasm. " Bye-bye! Hope to talk to you soon! Say hi to Papyrus for me!" he announced and as soon as Sans had passed the edge of his lawn, he allowed his bright smile to slowly fade. He felt a longing sadness fill his soul. He glanced back at the broken glass, it glinting in the late fall sun. He sighed and shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pockets as he turned to go into the garage, he needed to get something to clean up this mess with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	4. Late as an Anime Girl

Edge tore off in his red, 'gently' used truck. Gravel flew out from beneath the heavy-duty tires and he rubbed over the top of his skull nervously. He glanced quickly in both his rear view mirrors as he kept his leather-covered foot firmly on the gas pedal. He quickly if carelessly drove out of the empty lot, huffing out some exhausted air. That was some high-shit stealth back there. Oh well, I suppose it's over now, he thought and tried to force his tense frame to relax as he casually flicked on his older stereo system. Some edgy rock began to play and Edge never danced. . .when other people were around. He bobbed his head to the beat and began to mouth along to some of the words he knew. The houses of the outer Home flew by and Edge, spotting some traffic ahead, slowed to the speed limit. See the best advice Papyrus ever got for when you're doing something illegal, is to act like you're not. It may seem simple but when you have illegal drugs and weapons in your backseat and you drive past a police station, it really starts to fuck with your head. 

He casually cracked his neck and looked over to his empty passenger seat. He mumbled discontentedly at the empty gray canvas. Although his shithead brother annoyed the fuck out of him, he missed the venomous slurs and insults that would constantly spray from his mouth.

Sans was a pain in the ass but he was actually quite helpful on jobs, he had a sense of caution. A sense that was usually expressed in the form of calling his brother an idiot or getting so mad steam formed off his skull, but it was a sense of caution nonetheless. Edge acknowledged that he sometimes bit off more than he chew, he couldn't help it he was AMAZING after all. There was nothing the Great and Terrible Papyrus couldn't handle! Except there was. . .unfortunately, and Sans was always around to remind him of that. When Sans had left in the end of August to go off to New Home University, don't ask Papyrus where his dumb brother had gotten that idea from, Edge had thought it was fantastic! His brother was an obnoxious freak who was generally an annoyance, he was glad he was gone! But. . .as the days turned to weeks, Papyrus found his enthusiasm fade a bit. Suddenly he found himself longing for his brother's brutal words of hard truth, and his constant bitching, and the fact that Sans' little short body could squeeze through holes in siding Edge's could not. He found himself missing his brother and that made him kind of pissed, for he knew for a fact Sans wasn't missing him; the ungrateful little shit.

After everything Papyrus had done from him over the years the least he could do was fucking call his younger brother once and awhile! Papyrus had tried very hard to brush these annoying feelings under the rug but it was more difficult than he had first suspected. As time went on Papyrus felt the longing becoming more persistent and more. . .aggressive, so really it was no surprise that by Thanksgiving when their awful, foul-tempered father had shamed Sans into coming home, Papyrus felt himself losing control a little bit. It started with glances that lasted a little too long and then it progressed to subtly following Sans around to different rooms. Edge felt himself flush slightly at the memories even now, he hated losing that much self-control. Thank god his brother and father were both oblivious morons, for no one seemed to notice anything unusual. It actually made Papyrus worry he always acted like that, they were just used to it, and he had just never realized his own actions in the past; but he soon killed that theory for it simply could not be so.

Then when Gaster had demanded they both sleep in Edge's room, he just. . .couldn't control himself anymore. He hadn't exactly intended for it, he had never really realized he wanted to bang his brother, but when he noticed Red was watching him strip his shirt with such an in-awe, lustful gaze; he just did it. It wasn't that hard, Sans was surprisingly submissive; and Papyrus came to the understanding that Sans had probably wanted him like that for a long time, the little slut just couldn't speak up about it. Although honestly even if he had Papyrus would have laughed him off the face of this Earth, until that night anyway; when he realized just how much he wanted to possess the little shit, how he wanted to . . .own him. Papyrus was so pulled into his own thoughts he slammed the brakes just in time; some jerk cut him off.

Edge flipped them off out the window with an angry hand before sliding back into his seat, pissed. He saw his turn coming up and quickly took it, glancing at his car's clock briefly. 1:35?! Shit! I'm about to be late! Papyrus simply couldn't stand being tardy! How unlike him! Luckily, he was almost there. Pulling into the Grillby's parking lot, he drove the car, casually, around back. He put the truck in park and set the parking brake, alertly glancing around for any sign of her.

He spotted her as she stepped out from the shadows and revealed herself. She had blue skin, red hair, pointy yellowed teeth, and wore all black. Her top was cropped jaggedly and she had a bright scarlet broken heart on the front. She also wore tight leather pants with careless tears and holes, she pointed to her watchless wrist sinisterly. Papyrus grumbled as he swung his door open and hopped out of the car. He walked over to her across the asphalt with confident swagger, body still tense, showing he would fight if it came to that. Which it usually did not, thank goodness, mostly because Papyrus wasn't sure he could win. And this was Papyrus! He always thought he could win! Unless of course he'd had a past experience that proved otherwise. . .Undyne may dress like a whore but she's a whore who could beat the shit out of you. Papyrus paused a few feet in front of her and she grinned widely.

" You're late, punk." Her tone was easy-going yet held a distinct edge. " I was fulfilling your ridiculous request to a tee. Excuse a monster for being thorough." Edge retorted, foully. Undyne swung a hip to the side and arrogantly placed a gloved hand upon it. Papyrus personally thought her dress was stupidly obvious, he thought it would be easier to just wear a shirt with the words, ' I am involved in criminal activity, please arrest me.' across the front. She looked like she was wearing a slutty Halloween costume.

" I see your bitch isn't here again." she sneered, trying to get a rise out of him. " Sans is away, yes." Papyrus returned stoically and was specific not to include where, he tried to keep Undyne on a 'need to know' basis. Information was power in this business after all. " Too bad, I miss his ugly mug." she replied casually and Papyrus gave a harsh laugh. " I don't."

Undyne smirked. " Oh come on, you don't mean that, he's the Bonnie to your Clyde." she continued humorously and Edge stared at her questioningly. Undyne waited a moment and then began to explain, " Those two criminals who were a couple-"

" I know who Bonnie and Clyde are." Papyrus cut in calmly, " Just surprised to find out you actually read a book." He wore a shit-eating grin at the jape he couldn't resist. Undyne felt her eyes flare and Papyrus blocked the punch just in time, his senses leaping to alertness! Then, without warning, his legs were knocked out of from underneath him. His skull hit the pavement hard and he accepted the anticlimactic defeat, staying on the ground.

" You're a shitbag, ya know that?" Undyne questioned, leaning over him with a taunting grin. Still she was impressed, he usually wasn't able to detect her hay-makers until it was too late. She'd groomed him a long way since his petty days as a high school weed dealer. Papyrus only glowered in return as she began to wander over to his truck. " I trust you have my White Lady with all your 'thoroughness'." Papyrus hopped up pretending the his skull didn't throb from the fall.

" Of course." Papyrus answered curtly, crossing his long arms, and beginning to follow her over. " All of it?" Undyne questioned skeptically; she had given him a exorbitant order. She hadn't truly expected Papyrus to have all of it, she actually was hoping he would lack some so she could indebt him for a favor down the road. Papyrus hurried over and opened the back door of his ride, before pulling out a long black duffel. He held it, it being quite heavy, and invited, " Would you like to check for yourself?”, with a cocky smirk. Undyne chuckled and unzipped the bag, before letting out a disbelieving laugh.

" Holy shit, Pap! You weren't kidding." She looked genuinely impressed and Papyrus felt himself beam with pride. Worth every soul-pounding moment. " Never seen so much crack-cocaine in my life!" That was a lie but one Papyrus appreciated. She zipped the bag back up before taking the bag from her underlying and slinging it over her shoulder. " How the hell did you buy so much? Dry out your daddy's piggy bank?" she teased, she was always giving him shit because he lived at home.

" HaHA. No." Papyrus answered strictly, " A true magician never reveals his tricks." he added, with an arrogant simper. 

Undyne rolled her eyes. " Well I'll be sure to hire the 'Great andTerrible Papyrus' for my future kid's birthday parties." she mocked, beginning to pace across the back lot.

Papyrus felt an eye socket twitch, " As if any guy would ever fuck you!" Undyne froze and turned her head around sharply; tight anger in her eyes. Papyrus paled, and THAT was his cue to leave. He hopped into the driver's seat of his truck, slammed the door, and quickly put the machine in reserve, causing gravel to once again to be spit out from underneath his wheels.

" Same time next week?" he asked, from inside his protective vehicle. Undyne's gaze sharpened. " A second late and your pelvis is gonna be broken in twelve places." Papyrus coughed once and then awkwardly backed out, hoping to God future him was more punctual than his current self.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	5. Weirder Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been reading <3 It makes me happy to know my little slice of skeleton wish-fulfillment is being shared with other little undertale nerds that also live in the bone zone. Feel free to tell me what you think in the comments <: Sorry these chapters have been kind of short, they get longer later as the work progresses, for now we're taking it nice and slow, hee hee. Also if you haven't already, go check out my book: Stars! 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!

Sans, of the fallen variety, stretched his arms far above his head. He gave a yawn and his gold tooth glinted in the outdoor sun. He reached the bottom of the marble steps and passed a lazy glance around. Monsters and humans streamed past, although there were more monsters than humans; they weren't in that integrated an area, and he wondered absentmindedly if he would have time to return to his dorm before his shift at the campus library. He hadn't wanted to take the job but liked the spending around money. For personal reasons he wanted to be careful his expenses weren't too much. Suddenly he felt a quick little tap on his shoulder. He swung around with an angry expression, who was touching him? Didn't they see he busy? What asshole just did THAT?! He turned and saw a human kid, not that much shorter than himself with dark hair and a sable and snow striped sweater. 

" Sans! Hi!" Frisk said, smiling. Red frowned and retorted, " what the hell are you doin' here?" The kid's expression dropped quickly. " I am . . .here to say hello?" the kid explained, and Sans cruelly rolled his eyes. " but why?" he retorted, crossing his arms, " that's so stupid i can't even wrap my skull around it." Frisk frowned. " I came to say hello to my friend." they stated and Sans smirked." wellup," he switched his gaze back and forth, looking around mockingly, " no friends here." Frisk was silent for a moment and then stated, " I forgive you for that." Sans scoffed. This kid really did get on his nerves. Although he really couldn't believe they had come so far just to say hello? It was so fuckin' dumb.

" listen, jesus kid, how many times do i have to tell you, you and and your overgrown houseplant," Sans spat the phrase," that i ain't your friend! and i ain't interested in your company." The skeleton held out an aggressive finger. Frisk widened their eyes a bit and then paused a moment, making silence between the two. 

" Well um. . ." Frisk scratched behind their head, " I like your company, and I'm your friend." they said hopefully. Sans scowled, frustration knocking him over the head. " i'm not interested in your friendship!" he retorted heatedly." But-but!" Frisk pleaded. 

“ but nothing! by God!" Sans put his skull into his hand, exasperated; he really didn't have any patience. They stood awkwardly for a moment and then Frisk asked, " So, can I see your dorm?" 

" i-you-can't-God-" Sans hands were clenched so tightly his boney fingertips hurt his other hand bones. Then he deflated, " sure, why not." he stated dryly, and Frisk smiled triumphantly with full teeth. 

 

" bone, sweet bone." Red announced without much actual enthusiasm as he opened the worn, brown door to his dorm. Frisk giggled, they loved puns, and wandered in behind him. " Wow," Frisk said as they were met with the worn, unmade mattress and the clutters of trash, " it's. . .messy." 

" well excuse me for not being Mr. Clean." Sans growled, plopping down on his computer chair; spinning it around to face the kid in the dark room. Frisk smiled, " It's ok, you've always been a little disorderly." Sans rolled his eyes, hurricanes were always just a 'little' wet. 

" whatever, kid, so what are you even gonna do in here? i don't have a fucking coloring book station; my job is not to entertain you." Frisk sat down gracefully upon the side of the mattress and saw a magazine lying there casually beside them. They smirked cheekily as they picked up the shiny, collected papers; the cover picture a scantily clad female monster laying across the hood of a car. 

" Don't worry, I think I can entertain myself." 

" oh my god!" Sans exclaimed, hopping up and striding over before snatching the porn from the child's hand, " what is wrong with you?! you're like five!" 

" Eleven, Sans." Frisk retorted, grinning, " And anyway, you're the one acting way older than you are. Why do you have physical porn?” They pointed across the room with a smirk, “ Don't you have a computer right over there." Sans frowned. " so i prefer the paper stuff,” he crossed his arms over his chest, “ i don't have to defend myself to a perverted kindergartener!" Frisk chuckled quietly, " Ok then, whatever. I won't question your 'sophisticated' preferences." they continued, with some air quotes near the end of their statement.

" . . .do you want me to throw you out in the cold?" Frisk laughed although Sans was entirely serious, " No!" 

" then shut the hell up." Red barked, sliding the magazine underneath his 'bed', to join the rest of its sinful friends. Frisk did as instructed as Sans returned back to his chair. 

" So," Frisk said after the skeleton had grumbled and checked the time on his phone, " settling in ok?" 

" to New Home?" Sans retorted, his deep voice sounding slightly confused, " i've been here for months." 

" But you just came back from Thanksgiving break, right? You doing ok?" Red crossed his arms over his chest. 

" of course. why would you ask?"

" Your depression didn't flare up?" they inquired, looking very calm and serious. Sans stiffened. His gaze darkened and he leaned back, pressing his back into his chair. ". . .i don't see how that's any of your business." Frisk leaned forward, placing their hands carefully on their knees, and stressed, " I care about you, Sans. I want to know how you are doing." He looked away, feeling vulnerable; Frisk was the only person who ever gave a shit enough to ask about that kind of thing. " i'm fine. . ." he looked at them and his soul quietly mumbled under ocean waves. Frisk smiled. 

" It's ok if you're not." they offered and Sans spun around to face his desktop. " i said i'm ok! fuckin' christ, leave me alone." he barked, turning on the monitor because it would be silly to just stare at a black screen. Frisk brought an elbow to their knee and rested their head in it. " Something happen with Papyrus?" Sans twitched. He stood abruptly and the chair rolled a foot in response. " i told you to shut up." he snarled coldly. Frisk quieted, feeling slightly dejected. They held eye-socket contact for a few intense moments before Sans sat back down. They sat in somewhat awkward silence for a minute as Sans rolled his skull around his neck to give himself something to do. But you stay determined. . .

" Why do you not wanna talk about it?" Frisk asked and Sans felt one of his eyes light in red magic. " how's YOUR alcoholic mom?!" he barked, spinning around. Frisk shrunk inward. " Come on, Sans." they mumbled quietly, they hated when Sans exploded like this. He could never focus on himself, never! It was always about Papyrus or his dad or that idiot, or this one. Frisk frowned. 

" what?!" Sans said, grinning viciously, " doesn't feel so nice when your life is pried into, does it? she get drunk lately? violent? maybe that's why you're here?" Frisk lowered their head and took a deep breath, staring at the black of their pants. " mama beat ya, kiddo? wooden spoon? over the knee? come on, tell Sansy." The mocking, bloodthirsty tone swirled around Frisk's ears. Stay calm, they thought, staring at the spilled ink of their pants. He's just a sad, sad man who has had a lot of bad things happen to him, he just needs some love, Frisk sighed and looked up; jaw suddenly trembling for they were just a child. " I forgive you for that." Sans' eyes widened and he dry-swallowed. Frisk was a confusing, annoying kid. Why did we have to meet you? Sans wondered as he stared at the child who wiped quickly at their eyes. 

Sans remembered it like it was a bad rash from last week. A dark night, a cold basketball court; Papyrus had wanted to be on their way because they'd be in serious trouble if they weren't back before curfew. But he had just wanted to shoot a couple more hoops. Suddenly as if a ghost, they had appeared behind the court's chain link fence. They were younger, dumber then but then again Sans supposed he was too. He had missed and the sphere had rolled over to the kid's hiding place. Papyrus made a horrible joke about how shitty he was at the game and Sans stared as the kid slowly slipped into the court. They had picked up the ball and Sans could vaguely remember Papyrus' obnoxious voice in his ears rambling about something unimportant; Sans wasn't listening. He slowly watched the kid pick up the ball and then look over to him. The motion was curious, and wary, and interested. Then as Sans was about to call for the brat to give him back his damn ball, Frisk shot the ball from behind the hoop in a perfect arc. Sans' jaw had hit the floor as they made a stunning basket and Papyrus found it absolutely fucking hilarious. 

" Even a child is better at ball than you SANS!" Papyrus was in between fits of laughter and then invited this weird ass kid to play with them. They had played hard into the late hours of the night, Papyrus forgetting all about the curfew. Sans remembered actually laughing and actually smiling and his jokes being clean; not bitter. He remembered the kid laughing at his puns and he had felt so happy that night. A few hours just to forget everything, to forget who he was, and who his brother was, and the hell to pay at home. After that Frisk regularly joined them at the city court, even after they had moved to Snowdin, the boys still somehow found themselves in Home. Papyrus would always come up with an excuse to comb their old stomping grounds. Sans suspected his brother secretly missed the place but never cared enough to ask. The kid seemed to always be buzzing around the edges of Sans' life, like an annoying bumble bee. . .a bee. . .

" don't cry, god." Sans spun back to his monitor and 'tch'ed with his teeth; why did the kid always guilt trip him like this? Such a little bitch. Frisk rubbed at their eyes and let their hair fall into their vision again. The room was quiet. " I'm glad you're doing well." Frisk said after some time. Sans felt his soul contort with pain. " kid!" he exclaimed, spinning quickly. Frisk startled and looked over at the skeleton. Red froze, what am i even going to say? he asked himself and stumbled through his statement, " u-uh t-thanks. . ." he then looked back to his computer, feeling ruffled. God, why did I say that? he thought with some scarlet lighting up in his uneasy skull. 

Frisk blinked and then slowly smiled wide. " You're welcome, it's no problem. . . . That's what friends are for." Sans looked over the back of his chair and his gaze was full of regrets. Frisk smiled softly. " Isn't that right, Sans?" Sans turned away, his eyes seeing his lit computer screen. " yeah. . .i guess so. . ." Frisk laughed lightly and thought to themselves, how is my life giving unwanted therapy a monster nearly half my age? They chuckled, oh well; they supposed weirder things had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also lol, Red doesn't know how to interact with people and it's cute!


	6. Corn Cereal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ****BIG NOTE**** Please check the updated tags because they have updated a lot. OFFICIAL TRIGGER WARNING. Please read them and if you are made uncomfortable or upset by anything, please don't read. The Swapfell chapters are the most triggering because Corn dog has a lot of problems, and Ras too, goodness my, but anyway, I will try to remind ya'll in the notes before each one, since the others are relatively trigger free but your best bet if such stuff is not best for you is to simply not read. I love all of you, stay safe.

Dawn's light shined through the window lighting a dirty wooden floor, cluttered in trash and dirty clothes. A skeleton slept calmly undisturbed by the morning. " Papyrus!" a loud, unforgiving voice called through the door, " Wake up, you lazy fucker!" There was a loud pound on the door and Papyrus' sockets slowly, painfully peeled open. His soul was full of irritation and he looked to the old clock on his wall, cracked and slow by a couple minutes; he was too lazy to adjust it. His socket twitched, six am. He had slept a total of three hours and 15 minutes. He couldn't help it, he couldn't sleep when he was anxious! And last night he was a wreck. He paced and smoked and hyperventilated more than he rested. He groaned loudly and hit his skull harshly into his creased pillow. Maybe he could smother himself. " Papyrus! You miserable piece of shit!" Papyrus looked up and stared to his open, disorderly closet dryly. He fucking. hated. Wednesdays. 

Sitting at the breakfast bar, on top of a simple wooden stool, Papyrus dubiously brought a spoonful of stale cheerios to his mouth. His brother was pacing across the cracked tile floor of reddish brown, pissed as if he was had just been wrongly accused of murder. " No! No! Alphys! This is my DAY OFF! Get somebody else! I am on call for you six days a week, 24 hours a day! No fucking respect!" Work had apparently called him in and he wasn't having it. Papyrus knew the chance was slim but still wished Sans would give in and go help with whatever it was that needed to be done. He also wished there would be a ten car pile up outside of their house or a sudden hurricane came in and flooded the entire city, ANYTHING to escape the dreaded Wednesday jog or as Papyrus liked to call it, seeing your life flash before your eyes and every past life decision you've ever made be called into mind through the resurrection. " No! Get Catto to deal with it!" Papyrus swallowed down another bite. He didn't like cheerios. " Fuck you and him and everyone!" He preferred fruit loops. The off-brand kind of course. Hadn't had the name brand since public school lunch in middle school. Sans hung up violently and exclaimed, " Can you believe the NERVE of that woman?" Papyrus was abruptly pulled from his cereal thoughts.

" oh um no? she's a um. . .real bitch?" Sans frowned and stated, " You're the worst hype man I've ever met." A small smile crossed Papyrus' face and he shrugged, " sorry?" His brother shook his head disapprovingly. " Whatever. Are you finished, brother?" Papyrus looked down to his still full bowl of cereal. Staling? Hungry? Cheerios? " no?" Sans frowned and jumped up on the stool across from him, " You're so indecisive." The elder looked down to Papyrus' bowl and stated, " You've hardly eaten anything." Papyrus felt a bit of sweat on his skull and nodded yes. " Well do so." Sans warned, slamming his hands aggressively on the wooden counter top, " You still need to get dressed and take a shower!" His older brother smirked and leaned forward, " Don't make me dress you like last time." Papyrus shrunk down into his coat a little bit. " heh. . .i'll hurry, Sans, i promise." He did NOT want a repeat of that experience, Sans stripped him so violently and mocked him the whole while.. .always left him crying on the floor and Sans browsing new photos on his phone. Sans nodded, " Good. Lazy old thing." He slid off his seat and flicked a thumb to the staircase, " I'm gonna go get dressed, k?" Papyrus nodded and Sans wandered off. Looking down to the cereal Papyrus watched the pieces of grain float around aimlessly in the milk. Pushing down other cheerios to reach the top; each cheerio struggling to breathe the air, to not drown in milk. Papyrus' sockets were dark and heavy. He often felt like he was a cheerio.

You couldn't really jog through the streets of New Home, well ok you could, but NOT in the area Sans and Papyrus lived. To find a good place to jog you either needed to go up to the college campus or the older areas with the city hall and those old big houses that Papyrus stared up at as a kid. You COULD go there but Papyrus was convinced his brother wanted to make his life as horrible as possible so they drove to Hotlands, about 45 minutes away if the traffic was good. That's right, his brother liked to work out in a place called HOTLANDS. Don't ask Papyrus, he didn't know either. The only positive Papyrus could summon from the change of scenery was there was less of a danger of running into anyone they knew. Papyrus wondered if that was one of reasons his brother went so far. His brother really did like his day off. If him cussing his boss out wasn't enough of an indication. Maybe he just wanted to be separate from all the baggage of his normal life. When people saw him in Hotlands, his reputation didn't follow him. He was just a stranger. Papyrus thought perhaps we all wanted to be strangers. 

Staring out the passenger seat of their father's beat up cadillac, Papyrus tried to stop his leg from vibrating incessantly; trying to focus on the clouds. They were a light gray. " bro, is it supposed to rain?" he asked, gazing at Sans' countenance from his reflection in the window pane. " How about you try again?" Papyrus frowned, " Sans, is it supposed to rain?" Sans rolled his head around his neck and cracked it a violent measure of loud. " my lord! is it supposed to rain?! please tell me!" he pleaded, turning his head to Sans, his older brother grinned at him, " Will you get on your knees in a moving vehicle if I keep not answering you?" Papyrus looked to him and frowned. " n-no. . ." he looked away to the window.

" Stop tapping." Sans ordered, " You know I hate your tapping." Papyrus nodded obediently and forced his leg to a stand still, " Yes, my lord." Sans grinned smugly and Papyrus realized what he had said and blushed. He brought a long, thin hand to his mouth regretfully, it slipped out sometimes. He didn't like doing it when Sans didn't demand it. Made it feel like he had lost. How pathetic, he still thought he was playing. 

" Weather report says no rain, these dark clouds will blow over." Sans informed, taking the Hotlands exit from the highway. Papyrus nodded and nervously asked, " c-can i turn on the radio?" 

" Because you've been so good." Sans praised with a calm smile and Papyrus flushed, feeling flustered. I'm not a dog to be rewarded and punished, he thought with crawling shame. His life was SO comprising. A normal monster would have killed themselves already, that's how bad it was. Not that Papyrus hadn't tried. . .on three different occasions. Tried to drink bleach, shoot himself, and hang himself. The bleach had been the worst. He just kept drinking because he didn't know how much it would take or if it could kill monsters at all, he was really desperate then and just wanted to be gone. Sans always figured it out before it happened. The gun had had all the bullets removed, Sans had walked in and shoved him off the chair for the hanging attempt, and during the bleach attempt, Sans had pounded on the door screaming and crying until he eventually broke down the door with the fire axe. The paramedics showed up shortly after that and cops too, crawling with cops! Papyrus couldn't believe he had really called 911, Sans hated cops with a passion, once he had come home with three bullets in his chest and he got them out on the kitchen table with a wooden spoon and a tweezers. He knew if he went to the hospital, there would be questions. Three bullets and still alive? you ask. One of the advantages of being a skeleton, no wonder Alphys was always desperate to get him to deal with things. 

Papyrus turned on the radio and abruptly the car was filled with a beautiful, bubbly female voice belting out a french opera. Papyrus blinked widely and his brother cleared his throat quickly and said, " Change it!" with mild distress. Papyrus looked to him with an expression of 'why'? " Change it!" Sans repeated and stared straight ahead to the road, a little bit of blue on his skull. Papyrus scowled and turned the channel to something less eccentric. Boring top fourty hits about sex and clubbing. Papyrus frowned and folded his arms over his chest, leaning back into his seat. Sans felt some sweat on his skull and Papyrus looked to him with betrayal. " i know you were the last one to use the car." Sans laughed awkwardly, " No, dad used the car last night." Papyrus narrowed his sockets at him and stared with a displeased expression. . . " Ok! W-well it's not my fault, it's good music!" 

" unbelievable! we HATE Dad's music!" Papyrus protested and Sans groaned as he made a slow left hand turn, " I still do, I just-. . .listen to it sometimes." Papyrus shook his head like a disappointed parent. " you're becoming more and more like him everyday." he commented calmly, looking out his window. Sans barked quickly in return, " Don't say that!" Papyrus was surprised at how loud Sans' response was. He looked to Sans and asked with wide sockets, " . . .why?" Sans gave a unnerved chuckle and stared straight ahead. He answered honestly and concisely, " It terrifies me." 

" . . .oh." 

The trails of the Hotlands’ forest where quite extensive; well worn but not paved. They created a giant loop of interconnected networks that spanned 18 miles in their entirety. Sans usually ran 12 of them. Now Papyrus didn't know anything about running or long-distance or exercise in general for that matter, but he did know that one thing: it was torture. Absolute complete torture. He would rather be stripped by his brother and be drinking bleach at the same time than run. But Sans was a psycho. He drug him out here every Wednesday and Papyrus did mean LITERALLY DRAG. The door frame would never be the same after their second jog trip. Why Sans wanted him to come? Papyrus had no idea. To torture him, he supposed. 

" Dog." Sans said strictly, he was holding open the passenger door. The sun was behind him and Papyrus looked at him with extreme wary. His brother narrowed his eyes. " Get out. The fucking. Car." Papyrus slowly stepped out and Sans slammed the door when he was out of the way. Wincing, Papyrus felt like he was gonna vomit. He hated this part. It was more than just the running Papyrus had an extreme aversion to, although that was very much a factor. His brother who was sour not unlike a Raspberry, had some unusual habits that Papyrus was more often than not drawn into. . . 

Today Sans was wearing tight black running shorts that only came to his mid-femur and a neon blue racerback tank top. The first time they had gone up here, it had been a hoot. Papyrus laughed and laughed and laughed. His brother usually wore leather or dark wash jean jackets with neat gray or black undershirts in addition to leather or jean shorts, sometimes pants; add on the leather worn boots, leather gloves and his brother dressed like a gangsta. Or at least a high schooler going through his rebellious phase. Then Sans had pulled out something that made Papyrus shut right up-the LEASH. Leather, torn, probably had been used to straggle multiple people, ugh, it still made Papyrus' marrow freeze. Papyrus could still remember it, the first time he had been forced to wear it. He had been fourteen. 

He had gone to a party with these cool kids, got S.M.A.S.H.E.D. and had come home at three am. He had no idea what had happened but apparently he had swung on Sans and Raspberry was fucking P.I.S.S.E.D. The next morning Sans had woke him up at six am, beat the shit out of him, and then put a collar and leash on him. He tied him to a stake he had NAILED into the middle of the living room carpet and kept him there for five days, which were all school days by the way. Not that Papyrus attended frequently anyway, although he wouldn't drop out completely until next year. Papyrus could still remember the first time Father had walked by and he was so happy because someone could finally free him! But then father grinned, make a joke about Sans being extremely kinky, and continued on his way. Papyrus remembered how heartbroken he had been. . . The feeling of a soul melting into a cold, empty puddle. Someone with more grit would have dug their heels in and hated Sans. Buried and collected those biting, dark feelings of anger. But every hour broke Papyrus down and Sans knew it. At first he gave him food on a plate and then as the hours turned to days they appeared in a dog bowl. At first Papyrus had stubbornly and persistently refused. But then he got hungry so he picked out the food with his hands. Ras served him soup in it. Papyrus had cried while he ate and Sans sat on the couch and watched, with an intense, deep stare. . .

Papyrus was snatched by reality with the small metal clink of the leash clasping to his collar. His skull turned slightly orange and he looked down to the ground. He fidgeted and then looked up at his brother, who was a good deal shorter than him and sprouting a sadistic grin. " Ready?" Papyrus felt dread in his soul, he almost never was. 

They pounded down the trail and Sans kept his eyes trained straight ahead, occasionally moving to wooden mile and half mile markers along the side of the path; to check their progress. He jogged steadily, like he had somewhere to go. Papyrus kept pace with him but his eyes wandered to the tall oak trees they jogged past. They looked up to the bright blue morning sky and the birds that swooped back and forth. To the rotting logs and green vines that littered the forest floor. Anything to distract him from the aching of EVERY SINGLE BONE IN HIS BODY. Running was for sadists, . . . how fitting it was one of brother's favorite hobbies. Papyrus' roaming eyes caught the sight of two humans coming up on the path. He blushed brightly and looked away, his worn orange tennis shoes breaking small rocks from their place and cracking twigs without hesitation. Not keeping pace with Sans meant getting dragged. Real story. Ever wonder what obsidian soil tasted like in the furthest back part of your mouth? Corn could attest. It was unbelievably horrendous. 

This Papyrus was like a corn cob. You could chop him up and can him, fry him in a skillet, oven roast him, grill him, the only thing you couldn't do was eat him. But boy did he wish you did. He was always being cooked. But never being eaten. He wanted to be eaten. Like a cheerio in a bowl of milk, drowning, drowning, where was that helpful spoon to come pick him up? When were those boney teeth coming? He was ready to finally be crunched up and swallowed. Swallowed. Swallowed.

" What the hell?" one human laughed to another, " Why is that tall monster on a leash?" The other had a disbelieving look, " When you think you've seen it all. . ." they replied, shaking their head. " Why on earth would they-?" 

" Who knows?!" their friend interrupted, " Monsters are all weird." Corn and Ras jogged past them. " Fucking freaks! Get a room!" the first human hollered after them. Corn blushed harder and tried to pretend he didn't exist. Like it was only an empty pair of old gym shorts and an off-white ill fitting t-shirt that his brother had beside him, on the end of this studded collar. 

" bro-bro. . ." Papyrus panted out, once the humans were thoroughly out of sight, everything hurt; magic on fire in his bones; tense and painful, " c-can we take a b-break?" Ras looked at him and rolled his eyes. " We've barely gone a mile." Corn's heart would have dropped clean through his ribs to the dirt if he had one. He frowned deeply, only one mile?! " h-how far are we goin' today?" he was breathing heavily, sweat profusely soaking his bones and making them moist. His brother had barely broken a sweat because well, Sans wasn't a monster; he was a demon. An unstoppable, unforgiving demon of punishment and destruction, hell bent on the suffering of other individuals for his own wicked amusement. At least that's how Corn saw him. Unbound by the rules of the living, larger than life, too high in his dosage of malice for any one mortal. Why was he the younger brother of actual Satan? There were so many other brothers they could have sold to Ras as a play toy, seriously, there had to be billions of other candidates. So why him? Why give the Prince of Darkness a cob of corn for a companion? Did no one think of the cob's safety? . . .Did no one care?

" 10 miles. You can have your stupid break at the next half-mile marker." Ras answered and Corn thought about getting on the ground and begging. For a break now. For less than 10 miles. To only have to wear the leash, and preferably collar as well, at home. He resisted the ground and all but one subject, the most pressing one and the one Sans was most likely to bend on, he pleaded, " please my lord, i'm so very tired." His little prostration was interrupted frequently with little gasps for air. " p-please, my lord, just a minute!" Sans looked at him dryly and then looked out in front of him. Papyrus thought he had lost when Ras slowed his pace and then some more before moving completely to the side of the path. Corn had to keep his tremendous victory party to the landscape of his inner mind because if Sans saw him so much as smile, he was being a 'cocky brat' and then we're gonna run 'eleven'. He sat down on the ground and reached a hand out to his older brother, squeezing his fingers together as if he wanted something. Ras pulled off his small, compact running bag he brought with him and kept on his back. He unzipped it and handed Corn his black water bottle labeled 'Stupid Dog' with neat print in sharpie marker. Papyrus ignored the label, he had seen a hundred times before, and chugged down a few giant gulps of water. Sans recoiled slightly, " You know, you always get sick if you drink that much. We have nine miles left." Papyrus kept drinking, not caring about the precious water running down his lower jaw into the dirty ground; patched with now dead, brown leaves. 

He decided he didn't care. Eh, future Papyrus' problem. This guy was fucking thirsty. Ras sighed deeply and pulled out his own bottle marked, 'Your rightful lord'. He took one small sip and then closed it tight and placed it away. Papyrus drank and drank and then after their precisely 60 second break, Sans tore the bottle from his hand, told him to wipe his face, he looked like a slob, and to get up for they were going to keep moving. Keep moving. . . Keep moving. . . When exactly was that spoon coming for him again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	7. Sockets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me what you think in the comments! <3 I update once every weekend!

Stretch stared up at the gigantic building in front of him. His mouth hung slightly agape and he wore a wary expression. Four large columns, all ivory and engraved, guarding thick, rich wooden doors that lead to vast knowledge inside. He turned his head up slightly and wondered why the fuck it was so tall. Neat, endless red brick to either side of him as far as the eye could see. How the hell did I get into a school so prestigious? he thought, and then chuckled to himself as he shrugged, oh yeah by cheating the fuck out of the school system. You think he got grades good enough to get into New Home by his own efforts?. . .Do you know him?! Stretch giggled to himself and stated aloud, " Still, almost a semester in and I've never set foot in the library, that can not be a good sign." Suddenly a hand smacked Stretch's back pelvis through his tight khakis. He tensed and flushed a bit. What? He turned.

" It ain't! You fucking idiot!" Stretch looked to a monster with a round frame, green skin, two short but curving horns on his head, and most prominently; one big blinking eye, bright red and darkly outlined. He had a wide smile of razor teeth, and wore a super weird attempt at clothes, black pants and an open vest. 

Dress code: all monsters had to wear clothes. Stretch thought it was impractical cause, have you ever seen a Moldsmal in a sweater vest?! To each his own but it made Stretch deeply uncomfortable. Not that those crazy monsters who protested clothes as a 'wicked human invention' were any better. Stretch liked his pants thank you VERY MUCH. Stretch just thought people should do what they were comfortable with. Wasn't that the best and logical way? 

Stretch smirked at him and replied, " not a bigger one than you, Eyewalker!" Loox Eyewalker snickered, " You've never been inside our library? Really?" Stretch nodded, laughing awkwardly, and Loox retorted, " Oh, cause they don't allow weed in there. It all makes sense now." He wore a pestering, shit-eating grin. Stretch flipped him off, " so funny, walker, you're hilarious." his voice was a purposeful deadpan," i'm pissing my pants right now. urine is running everywhere, oh god, no." Stretch raised a fake dramatic hand to rest on the part of his skull above his eye sockets. " what a world, what a world." 

Sniggering, Loox rolled his eye. " Listen skeledick, you coming to Pyrope's party?" Stretch smirked and ran a hand over his skull. " beers and boobs?" He whistled, " what man would miss it?" Loox gave a thumbs up. " Glad you're as shallow as ever." Feeling a true genius pun coming on, Stretch stated, " or maybe it's all a rouse." Loox raised his eye questioningly. " maybe i'm going to the party to see you," He squatted down and grabbed Eyewalker's side. " after all," he said, his voice becoming silky and pretty; Loox sweat harshly, " you're the apple of my EYE." Eyewalker was stiff and unresponsive for a moment and Stretch smiled dorkly, before Loox grabbed his face with a small hand. He shoved Stretch away and the careless skeleton fell back onto the green with a mischievous grin. Loox stamped a foot down and yelled, " Don't pick on me! Asshole! Asshole!" He kicked Papyrus in the tibia and Stretch chuckled.

Loox turned and stormed away and Stretch propped himself up with an elbow and stated, " see ya then?" Loox flipped him off and walked off to the paved white campus sidewalk. Stretch sighed contently and lowered his head back into the cool, soft grass of the green. He stared up at the blue sky and puffy white clouds. He raised a hand up to block the sun that shined in his sockets and warmed his face. He closed them, finding a better solution and lowered his arm to beside him. This was good. Couldn't he stay like this for a while? Away from everyone and their expectations and judgement and even their love. Sometimes you just needed to get away. . .

 

Stretch strolled in and looked around with wide, calm sockets. Two stories, he could see white supports leading to the white floor above him with occasional large squares of empty space, where the glass guardrails showed mulling students of both monster and human looking for research materials or chatting quietly. The space was spartan, tan shelves spaced widely apart, with neat and orderly rows of books within their structures. There were long tan desks for the staff and thick, blue chairs for sitting and reading, here and there. There were few computers Stretch noticed, so guessed he'd have to proceed to the second floor or do things the 'old fashioned way'. 

He looked to the daunting staircase all the way across the floor, his eye socket twitched. So. Many. Steps. " Hi!" Stretch looked over to the sudden, quiet voice. He really was popular. Instead of one of his bro buddies or a cute girl though, it was. . .a kid. They waved eagerly from one of those plush blue chairs. It was the kid from the bus stop. They hadn't encountered a barber shop or a clothing boutique since their last encounter so the kid's dark brown hair still hung in their eyes and their sweater had white and black stripes. Kind of like an old-fashioned prison uniform now that Stretch thought about it. Note to self, the tall skelton thought, come up with jail pun. He grinned widely, sauntered over, and shrugged, " to what do i owe the pleasure?" Frisk smiled widely and swayed back and forth slightly in their seat. They seemed more chipper than before. 

" I don't know. I'm just reading." Stretch looked down at the. . .he cocked his skull to the left, scrunching some of his orange voluminous hoodie fabric between his head and shoulder. Was that a human anatomy textbook? Laying across the kid's lap there was a well drawn, colored diagram of a breast with marked lymph nodes and areola; medical notes in the sidebar. He looked up to the kid who smiled as if there was nothing odd on the page beneath them. He grinned and shifted his weight back in his untied sneakers. " i was gonna ask 'whatcha readin'?' BOOB that seems obvious." Frisk snorted and brought a hand to their mouth, concealing the noise. A gentle, muffled laugh still broke through. Stretch stood a little taller, his smirk growing a bit wider. He was a PUN GOD! 

" kid, who are you talkin' to?" a deep voice asked, surprising Stretch. A jolt of electricity bounded through each of his bones. He looked quickly and saw it was Sans, Fell Sans. He smiled; friendly, and Red gave a look of distaste once he spotted Stretch, like he just ate something bitter.

Red was dressed in his black jacket, loose and warm, over scarlet t-shirt, and on the bottom half; loose sable gym shorts. His gold tooth glinted with the library's bright light and his sharp teeth made a clear frown. He had his hands on a rolling cart of books and wore a laminated nametag with the words 'Sans Gaster' and his student ID photo beside it. Stretch thought it looked like a mug shot. Red really wasn't the most photogenic, was he? He forced the excited yet nervous feelings from his bones. Only Red. Only Red. Only Red.

" sup bud?" Stretch asked calmly and Red groaned and looked back to his cart of books. Frisk sat up more erectly and asked with wonder, " You're his FRIEND?!" Stretch smiled sweetly down at the child. One of Red's eye sockets' twitched. Is it that shocking? he thought with dry irritation.

" course. me and Red go WAY back." Stretch said while grinning. Frisk blinked widely, although you could barely tell through their hair. " Really? He's never mentioned you." Stretch's expression turned dry too, feeling slightly wounded. " why did you never mention me?" he whined and Red turned around sharply, walked up, and stood beside the human child and tall skeleton. " cause we ain't friends, weedbag." he snarled, crossing his arms over his chest. Stretch grew a pouting expression, " that's cruel." Frisk looked between the two, curious to every detail of their relationship. They couldn't believe kind bus-man knew Sans! The story Stretch had told about the three other Papyruses on his street was starting to become a little more clear. Small world, Frisk thought in intrigue.

" i don't care. we ain't ever been friends, Stretch. ya annoying and dumb, and me and Boss both think so." Red continued, frowning deeply. Stretch raised a finger and began to defend their relationship Red denied even existed, " what about when we kissed behind the middle school during the summer before eighth grade? were we friends then?" Red went well, beet red and Frisk exclaimed, " You two KISSED?!" throwing their arms out in surprise. " is it that shocking?!" Red barked with disbelieving frustration. Stretch smiled patiently at Frisk, " we sure did." Red growled and threw his own arms out in outrage, " it was middle school! it doesn't count! we were like goin' through the 'change' and still picking our noses, ya fuckin' idiot!" Red was still blushing. He HATED this story. So did Boss. He always thought his Pap disliked it cause it was a stupid fucking story but now. . .in late, he wondered if maybe there was a different reason. . .

Frisk's eyes were glued to Stretch as he replied, " a first kiss is a first kiss. no matter what age." He winked and Frisk exclaimed, " WHAT?!" and Red pulled his hood up and then grabbed the sides of it, pulling them down with fierce anger. If he wasn't working right now-this pothead punk would GET IT! " Your first kiss, how romantic!" Frisk squealed and Red spat, " It's NOT!" with intense, nearly comical anger. Stretch laughed peacefully, despite the fact he caused this conflict. Red was ready to tear his non-existent hair out when his eyes caught the page open on Frisk's lap. He blushed somehow further and snatched the book away. " what is WRONG with you?!" 

Frisk gave a displeased expression as Red continued, " you're like FIVE!" Frisk frowned, " Eleven." They held eye contact, or um socket-bang contact for a moment and Stretch felt a bit of sweat on his skull. Heh, he didn't get it. " You said I could get anything off the cart." they complained calmly and Red fisted his free hand, and held the book behind his back. He leaned his head in closer to the kid and his eye socket twitched, " but why do you got to be such a freak about it?" Stretch decided to intervene, " come Red, i think a young human having an interest in their species' biology is a BOOBtiful thing." 

Frisk and Red both turned their gazes to him and Stretch smiled expectantly. They both burst out laughing. Puns were Red's deepest weakness and Frisk loved crass humor. Their high and deep laughter blended into a beautiful mess of sound and Stretch smile grew wider, feeling deeply validated. They looked so happy, even if only for a moment. He turned and left them as Red hit the chair's wooden armrest with a fisted hand, his laughter loud and vibrating. PUN GOD. . .But still, Stretch brought a hand over his rib cage and held it tightly. His eyes went wide and his smile faded as he padded away. That laughter it was so. . .so much like. . .his soul pulsed quickly as if he had just spotted something dangerous. 

Red finally controlled himself enough to stop his shameless cackles. The kid had stopped laughing before he had, and stared off contently to where Stretch had disappeared, " I like him, I'm glad he's your friend." Red's smile dropped into a straighter expression. He stood up, getting out of his hunched position and looked down to Frisk. " i told ya, he's NOT my friend." Frisk's smile dropped suddenly and looked to Red. " Really? You two seem to get along so well. . . He seems very nice." Red glared off to where Stretch had vanished, behind a long, stacked bookshelf. Who knew why the druggie was in here; Red had never seen him here before. 

" Stretch is not who he pretends to be." Red said gruffly, Frisk frowned as he added, " all his puns and smiles and 'easy-going bro'; it's all fake." Frisk blinked widely and cocked their head slightly, " It seemed genuine to me." they retorted quietly. Red shook his head and walked back to the cart of books, to place the human anatomy textbook back in its slot. " maybe to you. . . but i can tell." 

" How?" Frisk asked, crooking their head over their shoulder to see their older monster friend. Sans squatted down and slid the book in its proper, shadowed place, on the bottom shelf of the basic cart. He 'tch'ed with his teeth and said gravely, " his sockets. you can see it." he grabbed his hands into fists by his sides and stood up. He looked at Frisk in the eyes as he finished, " you can see it in the sockets."

 

" i would like to check these out, dude." Stretch placed a small stack of books on the curved desk that had a little sign stating 'librarian'. Red frowned at the first book in the stack: 'Cannabis: A History.' Red stared up to Stretch dryly and Stretch giggled as if clueless. " finally get tired of putting shit in your body without reading the warning label?" Stretch laughed again but his eyes grew sharper, " where's your kiddo?" he asked. Red grunted, " ain't mine."as he slip the barcode of the first book under the scanner. " where's 'the' kiddo?" Red scowled and swiped the second book. " none of ya business." Stretch's smile dropped. " fine. . ." Third book. The beep filled the area and they stopped talking. 

Red gathered up his confidence and stated calmly, " Boss, my bro, . . .you owe him." Stretch's smile raised again, his sockets showed wary and frustration. " thought i had finally escaped that edgey weirdo." he said jokingly, shrugging exaggeratedly. “ Papyrus has got eyes everywhere." Red said ominously, holding eye contact with Stretch; reading him. Fourth. Stretch chuckled, " you make it sound like he's a mafia boss. you sure put him on a-" he picked up one of the books, ' Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence.', " HIGH pedestal." Red snatched the book from his hands and growled, " the money, Stretch." Stretch's smile faded again and he looked to the floor, " yeah. . .yeah." Fifth. " . . .it's only twenty bucks. . . why can't he let it go-"

" reputation, dumbass. everybody's gotta pay up. no exceptions." Red tore the receipt out of the small printing machine beside his computer. He offered it to Stretch, sliding the stack across. Stretch's sockets were sad then angry. " keep it, asshole." Stretch spat lowly and grabbed his stack of books; turning sharply to the doors of the library. Red glared at his back. " nothin's free, Stretch!" he barked and Stretch called over his shoulder, " except your dickishness!" Red frowned; Stretch growled, " that's always a guarantee! where's the receipt for that?!" Red felt rage bubble in his chest. " you're not a ray of sunshine either, pothead!" Stretch swung around, " i am always KIND to you!" Red paused, . . .Stretch looked genuinely upset. Red was startled and then slowly, he grew a smirk, " gonna cry, weedhead?! gonna go run into the arms of your infant older brother?! cry me a river!" he chuckled and Stretch turned sharply on his heel, gritting his teeth, and storming off towards the library's doors. A lot had changed since the summer before eighth grade.

Red folded his arms over the library desk and he cracked his neck, feeling satisfied. " Sans. . ." Sans' sockets widened and he turned his head around to see. Frisk stood, holding a human anatomy textbook close to their chest. They had a frown over their face and Red frowned in return, he knew they had overheard at least that last part, and. . . were disappointed in him. He tore his gaze away from them and stared at the blue, industrial carpet of his workplace. ". . .you know i ain't a nice monster." They wandered up beside him and Red refused to make eye contact with them. They placed a hand on his arm and he then looked to them with wariness. " But you could be." Red stared at them and his sockets filled with pain, doubt, and conflict. He looked away again, fisting his hands. He didn't believe them, Frisk could tell. . .You could see it in his sockets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	8. Ya like spiders?

The door slammed. Gaster, fallen, looked over to the entryway to the hallway. He rolled his eyes and looked back to his newspaper, it was only Papyrus. Where had that delinquent been all day anyway? He turned the page with a crinkling sound and raised the ceramic black mug, full of pitch coffee, to his mouth. To his slight surprise, footsteps, loud as always, came down the hall. Towards him. He raised his eyes to the door. That was unusual. Papyrus usually liked to play the game of which room to I have to be in to avoid dad. He tried to play it cool, but it bothered him when they were in the same room too long. Gaster could tell. If Papyrus was eating lasagna at the table and he sat down, Papyrus would, on the surface, ignore him and continue eating but, he couldn't hide everything. The way his foot started tapping, the way all his movements grew mechanical. Measured. Precise. As if fearful of a mistake. . .It was different when Sans was here, he could stand in the same room as Gaster for hours and hours, his tapping nor tenseness never took him. His boys were always more confident together. They thought they preferred to be alone. But he knew better. Social creatures those two. 

He entered the kitchen and gave Gaster a tired glance. His sockets were dark, his pants torn at the knees, a few scratches on his skull. He moved his eyes from Gaster just as quickly and he walked to the fridge. He opened the old, white thing and pulled out a six pack of beer. Monster beer of course. Human liquor took an eternity to get a monster buzzed; they were made mostly of magic after all, not much to 'get drunk'. 

" You look like shit." Gaster commented, cause he couldn't help himself. Papyrus took the case and sat down across from his father. He pulled one out and popped off the top with a boney finger. Gaster stared at it intensely. He needed a bottle opener or at least a tabletop for that brand, they weren't twist-offs, Papyrus just broke them open; slightly denting the cap. He sure did create some monsters worthy of wary. He preferred Sans around too.

" Those are mine." he stated evenly and Papyrus stared him straight in the eyes as he raised the bottle to his mouth. Gaster sighed and looked back to his paper. The electric hum of their old fridge filled the small kitchen. Papyrus' black boot, shiny and polished, began to tap against the well finished wood. ". . .Aren't you going to ask what happened?" he said as he lowered the bottle to the table top, " To make me 'look like shit'?" Gaster sighed and looked up, " No. I don't care." Papyrus scowled and took another swig, Gaster momentarily thought Papyrus was going to drop whatever it was, so he looked back to the black and white picture of Home's city hall. A shooter. Six dead or something. 

" Well I want to tell someone." Papyrus stated and Gaster looked up dryly, " So? How is that my problem?" Edge frowned and it looked a little sadder this time. " But-" 

" Call Sans or something." Gaster interrupted. Edge looked down and took another small sip. " He. . .hardly picks up." Gaster scoffed and turned the page. " How is that my problem? Want me to drive to New Home?" Gaster had started tapping his black boat shoes. He had picked that up from Papyrus a couple years ago. " No!" Papyrus hissed, growing irritated, " I want you to LISTEN!" Gaster looked down and turned the page. " No. I want plausible deniability." Papyrus took another sip and swallowed angrily. " Funny joke." he commented cheerlessly; harshly putting the bottle down, a couple spots of brown beer splashing onto their table. 

Gaster looked to the mess with a fierce desire to clean it. He HATED messes. So did Papyrus. " Not really a joke." he responded, eyes still on the specks. Papyrus traced his vision but was in a too distressed mood to clean it. Dad SHOULD listen to me, he thought stubbornly, " I'll keep the illegal parts out." he reasoned and Gaster pulled his eyes away from the spots to his son's face. He gave a growl and said, " I don't want to hear." Then looked back to the specks of liquid staining the table. Papyrus watched his eyes and smirked, " It's been getting worse." Gaster widened his eyes in surprise, " What?" Edge shrugged, " Nothing." He was already feeling better, maybe he didn't need to tell someone. He took another swig of beer. That or the beer was working faster than expected. 

Gaster frowned and looked to his lap self-consciously. . . What was? Ugh! It hardly mattered. He stood up and stated, " I'm going to my workshop." grabbing his newspaper in a frustrated grip.

" You don't need to inform me." Papyrus said, feeling cocky, leaning forward and turning his body to follow his father. Gaster paused at the look. " Get that smirk off your face, you fucking shit. You're lucky I let you stay in my house, never mind fucking drink my alcohol, get a fucking job." Papyrus lifted the bottle to his mouth again, his grin not fading. The usual. " You're such a fucking ingrate, if you weren't my son I'd throw you out in a cold, in two seconds; maybe one!" He hit Papyrus on the head with the rolled paper and then stalked out of the room. Papyrus looked off after him, smiling still. He liked getting under his father's skin. Now that father couldn't do anything about it. Papyrus was bigger and stronger and they both had known it for years. He watched him till he turned left out of view, then turned back to his beer. 

The kitchen was silent. He sighed, his smile fading, and took another swig. 

Earlier that day, Classic's Sans had wandered out of Grillby's. He was all smiley and in a fine-tootin' good mood because he had just seen Papyrus. He sure did love his bro. His brother's schedule was crazy, between college classes, his job at Muffet's, and commute time; interaction between the two was almost scarce. But they made it work the best they could and him and Pap made plans to meet up at Grillby's for lunch every weekday. It was the ride that was the problem. Papyrus drove his own red sports car everywhere. Their dad had gotten him it for his 16th birthday and he ADORED it. If there was something he loved more than Sans, it was that car. Sans graciously accepted second place. Sans, on the other hand, didn't have a car nor plans to get one. He didn't even have his license. Not that he was a bad driver he just-couldn't be bothered to CAR. Eyyyyy, his puns are already infecting this section. I'll just let him tell it. 

The sun shined down into my sockets as bright as Papyrus' smile, lighting my entire world (I am sorry to have submitted you to this). My bro sure was cool, he was cooler than cool. He was like cold. Like-like an iceberg. Papyrus was so iceberg. I was feelin' pretty good about going home and watching five hours of 'the bee movie trailer but its you like jazz every time barry talks'. Which by the way, I would like to correct the titler, person who assigns titles. It should be: 'the bee movie trailer but its YA like jazz every time barry talks.' or after the third hour, 'yalikjaz', anyhoo. Unlike Jerry Seinfield most famous cinematic performance though-

-Sans was not looking forward to the walk home (I had to take the reins back). He lived about 20 minutes from Grillby's and as mentioned previously, he didn't have a car. This paired with his endless laziness, made for a bad combination. Papyrus offered to give him a ride, but his work was all the way on the other side of town and they cut it close as it was. Sans always refused, courteous of this fact. Papyrus gave a last wave pulling out of Grillby's front parking, smiling brightly, and Sans waved back calmly. Then the younger skeleton carefully pulled out onto the main road. Sans stared off lovingly as he disappeared down the street. 

" Yo Shortie!" Sans looked back and forth quickly, and spotted a worn, jacked up pick-up at the curb of the fast food place. Fiery red and belonging to his next door neighbor. " Edge!" Sans greeted warily, wandering over. Edge and him, had a . . .complicated relationship. Edge was sometimes nice, sometimes mean, and ALWAYS temperamental. He was like a needy, demanding version of his Papyrus who might pants you in public and then trip you into a mud puddle if you made him upset. True story: Sans had seen that happen to Red once. Sophomore year was crazy as fuck for those two, they were always doing SOMETHING to each other. Sans vaguely remembered Edge showing up to school in nothing but pink one day and his older brother wasn't with him. Sans had leaned over the back of Edge's bus seat and pretended to ask casually, " where's ya bro?" Edge had stared him straight in the eyes, and Sans knew if he so much cracked a grin he was gonna end up with a broken arm. Edge only said, " You don't want to know." 

Sans approached the car and grinned easily, putting his hands in his blue hoodie pockets. " how you doin', bud?" Edge shrugged but was smiling, " Good as always." Sans chuckled, that was rarely true. Edge didn't ask how he was in return. " heh, that's cool." Sans said weakly, and then shrugged too. After a short pause Edge prodded, " I was watching you and your dorky brother say goodbye through the window. That was pretty gay." One of Sans' eye sockets twitched, he didn't like the insinuation his brother was a dork nor that um other one. " we're close." Sans said awkwardly, smiling still. Edge hadn't crossed his line yet. Edge leaned over and patted the empty seat beside him. " Get in, shortie." Sans blinked widely, " wait, heh, why?" he asked, distrustingly.

Edge shrugged, " You need a ride or WHAT?" He patted the seat again, more insistently this time. Sans felt some sweat on his skull but looked out to the sidewalk that stretched out and onward. That WAS a lot of walking. Eh, what could go wrong, he thought and jumped up on the step and opened the passenger door. 

" thanks." he said with a smile as he sat down on the worn, thin seat. He closed the door quickly, trying not to look down. Wow, heh, he thought, long ways up. It shut heavily and Edge didn't wait for him to get seat-belted in before he began to pull forward. Sans took vague note of this, only because Papyrus and father always took special care to make sure everyone was buckled before even shifting out of park. Edge smiled as he went onto the main road, Sans grabbed onto his seat belt abruptly; for the whole car felt the slope violently from the parking lot to the road. Edge gave him a sly look and stated, " Scared? Relax, shortie." Sans laughed uneasily, " yeah, yeah, sorry. just be CARful, ok?" Edge looked at him dryly, " Don't make puns while I'm driving." His mouth grew into a grin, " I MIGHT just have an accident." Sans paled and Edge gave a " Nyeh heh heh!" at his own morbid joke. Sans looked out the window, note to self, he thought, ok, no puns while Edge is driving. 

They sat in what Edge found comfortable and Sans, very uncomfortable, quiet for the next few minutes. " uh-uh ya know you're taking me to my place, right?" Sans asked after a while and Edge looked to him seriously, " Really? No. I'm taking you to Home to sell you on a street corner for cash."

“ what?!" Sans cried, jumping alert while still in the restraints of his seat belt. Edge laughed again, " Wow! You sure think highly of your next door neighbor." he said teasingly, " I was JOKE-ing." Sans sighed a breath of relief, oh thank Asgore, he thought, holding a hand to his chest. Edge looked back out the windshield. " I'd at least take you to New Home, they treat their whores better there, or at least I've heard-" 

“ stop! stop!" Sans pleaded, " your 'joke-ing' makes me nervous." he revealed honestly. Edge smirked and looked to him, " Cute." he cooed and Sans flushed slightly and looked out his window. He decided with equal bashfulness and discomfort that he should have walked.

When they pulled onto Snowpoff Street, the location of both their houses, in the suburban area of Snowdin, Sans could not have been more relieved. Edge was more neutral. He didn’t really have a lot to do now that Undyne had her Snow White. He wondered if maybe he should try calling Red, no-no he couldn’t do that. He had already done that once today, Sans hadn’t picked up. Didn’t want to look desperate after all. Glancing to his mirror, Edge felt his sockets widened and his absentminded musing vanish, being replaced with a more urgent matter. He noticed a car in his rearview mirror. Black van. Armored. His soul speed up a bit as he looked forward, not wanting to give away yet that he'd noticed them. He cursed himself, with a look of worry, because of the stupid guest in his car he had forgotten to take his circle an extra time around the neighborhood before pulling onto his street. 

He frowned as he looked to the Sans, that wasn't his. He looked back into the mirror with anxiety, he couldn't let him out without endangering him as a 'friend' of his. Not that they were anywhere near friends. Whoever that was though, Edge knew they wouldn't care about such details. And although Edge didn't consider Classic Sans a friend, he didn't feel like having him end up dead because of him. 

Still, he wondered with racing thoughts, who would come all the way to Snowdin to follow me? How long have they been tailing me? What do they want? All quickly and hectically. Sans grew a bit surprised when the truck rolled past his house, then he tried to relax himself assuming, Edge is just pullin' into his own driveway, next door. Jeez, I've flustered myself into a nervous tizz for no reason, he chuckled slightly, really, Sans, I mean why have I been so tense? Edge is a bit of a rebel but it's not like he's actually a criminal or something, Sans took a deep exhale, calm down self, you're FINE. They rolled past Edge's house and over a speedbump which bounced them both hard; Edge wasn't known for his cautious speeds. Sans looked to him in disbelief as Edge took a right, to swing back out of their neighborhood. OK, San told himself, now you can panic.

" yo man, Edge, you passed our houses. i wanna go home." he said quickly. Edge glared to him, his face serious. " Relax. I forgot to get something." he said lowly and quickly looked back to the road, taking another sharp turn. Sans' seat belt held him in place as the vehicle turned rashly. " dude, how long would it take to let me out?" Sans' deep voice grew a little sharper, " let me out." 

" I'm the driver!" Edge spat, getting irritated. He DID NOT need this from short stuff right now. " Edge! let me out!" Sans demanded and Edge sped up as if to dare him to open his door and try. Wind whipped across Sans and Edge's skulls and Edge's scarf flapped with the brisk breeze. Edge would roll the windows up but they were busted right now. He had planned to fix them tomorrow. Now he had to make sure they made it to tomorrow. Sans frowned deeply and grabbed onto his seat belt, it feeling more like a pair of handcuffs than a safety device right now. Edge was going 35 through the neighborhood, very unsafe for both careless children and well, unwilling passengers. There was no way Sans would try to jump out right now. " where are we even going?" Sans questioned, leaning back in his seat with defeat. He crossed his arms and Edge said, " The autopart store." distractedly, saying the first thing that came to mind. Sans sighed, " why does that need to include me?" Edge ignored his question and pulled quickly out of the neighborhood. The van still followed them. Edge tried to keep a cool head but his soul had sped up even more with nervousness. He wished Sans was here, and NOT this idiot in his shotgun. 

Edge weaved through town as Sans grumpily sat, he eventually decided to pass the time by looking around Edge's car. He didn't feel he was in any real danger yet, he thought Edge was just being moody and demanding and irrational. As he usually was. The floor of the truck was quite tidy, in the pockets of the door there was some spare ballpoint pens and loose change. Nothing really interesting to stare at. Although it was enough to distract him when they blew past the auto part shop. 

Edge strummed his fingers against the leather wheel. He wished he could play it cool. He wished he had a plan. But HE DIDN'T. Did Sans ever tell him what to do if he was being tailed? Did Undyne? Did ANYONE? Sans had given him some advice on the subject, never go to your house while being followed. 'Take an extra loop around the neighborhood to make sure no one is tailin' you', he could hear his older brother's voice even now. 'Take some unusual turns, get off the main road, then back on, to see if some bloke's got his sockets on ya'. Well, this guy wasn't being subtle. Edge knew he WAS being followed, he just didn't know what to do now that that was a certain fact. He thought about calling Sans. But he was afraid he might say something stupid. Or worse, Sans wouldn't pick up at all. He took another turn, the foreboding van behind them, mimicked the movement .

" huh, that's a big van." Classic's Sans commented casually, he was over being upset. Edge glanced over the center console to see him ogling it over his shoulder. " Don't look at it!" Edge hissed and sighed, that was one thing Edge was pretty sure you WEREN'T supposed to do. " why?" Classic asked, looking back, and Edge rolled his sockets and glanced away. Classic shrugged and asked calmly, " can i turn on the radio?" Edge frowned, Red never asked: he just did it. Then he would bitch at him and they'd get into a fight over his shitty, goth music taste. " Might as well." he grunted and Classic smiled calmly and turned it on.

A fast pop song began to play and Classic gave a hum. " sounds pretty." he chatted. Edge cynically retorted, " She's probably talking about double penetration.", while gazing to his rearview again. Sans chuckled and said, " hey, double penetration can be pretty." it was half a joke. " Have you EVER been doubly penetrated?" Edge asked dryly. " heh, no, but i imagine it could be." 

" How?" Edge barked with annoyance, looking to Classic. WHY was he wasting his energy talking about something SO stupid? Classic laughed again, feeling a little awkward. " uh, maybe it's filled with love?" Edge scoffed, " You DON'T ask to double penetrate someone you love." Classic frowned, " hey, you don't know what some people are into. . .m-maybe somewhere some kinky couple shows their affection like that." he smiled at Edge hopefully. Edge looked back to Sans with a harsh gaze. " Would YOU ever do that to someone you loved?" Classic's smile dropped and he felt a bit of sweat on his skull. " i um guess not." 

Edge nodded, " Then do us both a favor and don't talk about things you don't understand." Sans frowned and defended, " hey, it's not like you know more about double penetration than i do." Edge's face grew grave and he stated, " Two thirty year old monsters FUCKED me for a gang initiation." Sans' jaw dropped open in horror. " wh-what?! oh my God! are you-?!" Edge was cackling again and Sans scowled with realization and looked out the window indignantly. He was starting to realize why Red was such a hard-ass, with a brother like this; jeez even the nicest person would become jaded!

Sans sighed and looked to the mirror. That weird black van was still behind them. " that van's been behind us for a while." Sans said after another minute. Edge glanced to him warily and admitted, " I know." Sans looked to him seriously, " you think they might be followin' us?" Edge felt slightly ashamed as he continued the confession, " It has been for about 15 minutes." Sans blinked widely, " really?" Edge nodded and then grunted, " Any bright ideas, Sherlock?" Sans frowned, " why didn't you say anything earlier? this could be serious." he informed quietly, leaning towards Edge. " do ya got a crazy ex or something?" Edge rolled his eyes, trust him; this was bigger than crazy exs. " No." he retorted curtly.

Sans thought about what to do. " hmmmm, we should go to a police station." he stated with a calm smile. " What?!" Edge barked, " No! We can't go to the police!" 

" why?" Sans asked dryly, Edge steered back onto the main road from a side street. With a scowl, the tall skeleton answered, " They make everything worse!" Sans shrugged, " we don't have to talk to them if you want. we can just sit in the lot. no one will mess with us there." Edge frowned but didn't have a better plan. With a sigh, he turned the heavy truck onto a side road that would lead them there. On the bright side, at least he didn't have cocaine in the truck anymore. . .

The sky was fading to a light pink as Edge and Sans sat in the parking lot of Snowdin's police headquarters. " yeah Pa, i'm with Edge. i'll try to be home before dark. yes. . .yes, we're ok." Edge watched the short skeleton talk quietly into his phone, staring down to the glove box. " ok, got it," Sans blushed slightly, " love ya too, bye." he ended the call and looked over to Edge shyly. " so um- shouldn't you call your dad?" 

" He doesn't care." 

". . .oh." They both looked out their own windows. " so um have those guys left?" Sans asked, fingering at the loose fabric of his shorts. Edge glanced dryly over at the store across the street. Parked. " No." How long is going to be?! Edge thought with sudden frustration. I just want to GO HOME! Jeez, steal 20 kilos of coke and get labeled for life!

" oh. . ."

" That's it!" Edge proclaimed, opening his door. Sans looked over in surprise, what is he-? he thought before Edge pulled a gun from the inside of his jacket. " what the FUCK?!" Sans exclaimed, drawing his legs up to his chest, being filled with intense shock and horror, " why do you have a GUN?!" Edge glared at him as if he was stupid, " Clearly my crazy ex is driving around a fucking armored van. These guys wanna piece of me? I'm give 'um all this." Edge traced a hand over his body quickly. Sans gave a look of horror as Edge dropped down to the asphalt. " Stay here." Edge said, loading his M1911 pistol. " are you crazy?!" Sans hissed, " if those-those guys are dangerous, you could DIE!" Edge shrugged, " Better than sitting here with you." 

" you can't be seriou-?!" Edge looked over his shoulder and grinned, " Do you want to live forever?" Sans' sockets grew wide with disbelief as Edge started walking across the mostly empty lot to the street. " w-wait Edge!" Sans opened his own door and hopped down with a small thump, " w-wait!" he ran around the car. Across the street, the hostile van's front doors both opened. Edge didn't stop at the curb of the road and walked straight into the street, narrowly avoiding being hit by a white lexus. He walked calmly across with a focused gaze and Sans chewed on his fingers, still on the side of the road with the police station. This was NOT happening. " please Edge, come back!" he begged helplessly, although he wasn't even convinced Edge could hear him from here. Edge reached the lot on the other side and pulled his gun to full view, raising it in front of himself menacingly. 

Then an inky mass exploded from the sides of the van. Edge jumped and Sans gave a yelp and leaned forward. What was THAT?! Edge, much closer, could make it out what it was. Spiders. Fucking spiders. Climbing on top of each other in the grand alliance of nightmares. Beady black eyes and skittering legs. The mass hit the ground, splattered out and then regained height. It charged towards Edge and Edge loosed a shot and then another. This gun had a silencer but Sans could still hear it vaguely. His bullets slid through the mass of spiders and killed maybe 10? 11? More spiders took their place. They swarmed over Edge in a quick, fierce wave, which both Edge and Sans gave a shriek at. Sans watched with horror as his temperamental neighbor disappeared. An angry leg and arm would occasionally swing through the sable, swarming cloud and after a pants pissing minute Edge escaped, breaking free and dashing for the road. He threw himself in front of a car, got hit, and slid across the asphalt harshly. Sans yelped and then looked nervously back and forth before running out to help him up. 

Edge barked he didn't didn't need the help as Sans tried to pull him up. A spider or two still clung to the thug’s jacket but most had abandoned the attack the moment Edge had stepped out onto the road. The monster who hit him, luckily had hit the brakes before slamming into the edgey weirdo. Sans was afraid he had broke a bone or two but Edge had only torn his leather pants at the knees and scratched up his face. He was fucking mad though! He cussed the mouse monster out viciously, if briefly, and then grabbed Sans by the arm and pulled him back to the truck. Sans apologized as he was drug away and watched the doors of the van slam and it take off and whip away. His eye socket twitched and he had a hysterical smile on his face. 

How did they even drive??????

Edge had nearly killed three people on the way home, ran over two curbs, and took part in more cursing than Sans had heard in his entire 18 years of life. He barked at Sans to get the FUCK out of his car and insisted THIS NEVER HAPPENED once they were back to their street. Sans nodded and agreed, with sweat in every conceivable place sweat could be. Sans got up the steps of his porch and his sockets were dark. He wasn't really in the mood for that 'YA like jazz' binge anymore. He decided with a shudder, he didn't like bugs of any kind anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	9. Bedtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning-Swapfell chapter, talk of wanting to die, verbal abuse.

“ Where are you going?” Ras asked sharply, lowering the newspaper from his line of sight with haste. Papyrus froze and looked over his shoulder with an anxious smile. “ i’m going to bed, Sans. it’s my bedtime.” Sans nodded with certainty and questioned, “ Did you brush your teeth?” Corn held an awkward smile on his face. “ yes. . .” 

“ Breath check.” Sans commanded, shifting forward. Papyrus paled, his expression twisting to pain for a moment. He looked back towards the stairs and then down to his shoes. Why hadn’t he moved from the couch before Sans had gotten home? He had meant too but as he watched the electric numbers above the old tv pass by, he just couldn’t will himself. He just couldn’t cared enough. Now, he wished he had. Bedtime: better known as ‘fuck my life’ time by Corn. If Wednesday was the bad apple of the bunch, bedtime was the brown spot in every apple. 

He stared back and Ras set the newspaper down in his lap to show how serious he was. Although he always looked serious, he always sat on the edge of the couch, like he had a permanent crick in his back and he couldn’t lower back; certainly not relax. Papyrus wandered over and some orange raised in his skull as he lowered down to Ras’ skull, Ras’ countenance was impervious. Corn exhaled sheepishly, his shoulders low and bone hot. Ras judged this and stated, “ Liar.” Papyrus quickly pulled away and grabbed one arm with the other hand. Some more orange entered his skull. 

“ How hard is it to fucking brush your teeth?!” Sans snapped, getting aggressive for a moment, he threw the newspaper on the table and exclaimed, “ Do you want me to do it for you?! Is that what you want?!” he shouted. Papyrus flinched and his body began to tremble. Bedtime was horrifying. Not worse than Wednesday, but horrifying nonetheless. Not only was it basically an hour long process of nagging, corrections, and insults, but Sans was even more short-tempered than usual. He was exhausted from work, chores, and everything else that drove Sans to be who he was. The invincible demon. 

One day, Papyrus had ran upstairs, he had forgotten to turn his night light on and Sans had yelled at him to go DO IT. As he crept back down the stairs, he had heard this faint sobbing, like someone was crying into their hands. But when he had reached the bottom, Sans was reading the newspaper as always. Apparently, not a crying mess. He had asked him if he was ok. Sans had laughed and made a bitter joke, Papyrus knew he wasn’t but- Sans didn’t ask for help. No one in their house did. But Sans took it an extra step further, he wouldn’t LET himself be helped. He liked to take pain alone and hopelessly, like a self-flagellant in the dark of their chambers. It helped him sleep at night, so Papyrus let him help himself. It’s not like Corn thought he could be any help anyway. How could a thoughtless, stupid, worthless starch help anyone?

“ no, Sans. i’m sorry.” he answered and Sans fisted his hands and growled into closed teeth. Might as well have been the sound of Sans’ life. “ Go practice normal fucking hygiene, NOW!” he barked and Papyrus turned and jogged off to the steps. Ras didn’t beat him. He didn’t like when people implied that, which they sometimes did. Asgore had asked once, Corn could tell he was trying to be careful about it but how could you be careful when asking such a thing? Corn’s blood always burned from inside his bones at the insinuation. He always felt insulted, his older brother was certainly not kind and had done many immoral things in his life but beating him wasn’t one of them! Well. . .at least, it wasn’t now. When they were younger, tween-early teen, they got into fights. Fights Ras always ended up winning, that’s how the short lord attained his title, a victory prize. When father had heard Papyrus call Sans that at the table for the first time, he had laughed so hard Sans had thought they needed to call an ambulance for some kind of seizure. In some cases, the tussles had turned into one way beatings but Papyrus never considered them like that, if he challenged Sans, if he upset him, he thought he deserved to be beaten. But ever since the hanging attempt about a year ago, Papyrus hasn’t earned more than a few warning slaps. Not that pushing and dragging and pulling were off limits. 

Papyrus stood in the bathroom, cracked white tile under his feet. He stared into the mirror, he had a long, tall face with big, black sockets, sharp teeth duller than Sans’. They looked like he would have trouble gnawing a piece of steak while Sans’ looked as if he could snap steel rods in half between his much whiter, jaws of death. Corn had one gold tooth, whose processor had been knocked out in one of him and Sans’ previously mentioned tussles. Papyrus also had scars. One right through his right socket like he had been cut on fishing wire; clean. He was scuffed and cut, but the scars were all old. All as healed as they were going to get.

He fumbled for his orange toothbrush and pulled it out of the old holding cup, he half-heartedly turned the sink on and dampened the bristles. He raised it to his teeth and lazily went back and forth before reaching for his toothpaste, ‘Sparkle Strawberry’ flavored with a cartoon Strawberry smiling jollily. He stared at it with deadness. 

Once downstairs, Sans looked to be sitting in the exact same position he was in before, but he now had a wine glass, without a stem, on the table in front of him, that hadn’t been there before. “ Sans,” he prompted dubiously and Sans looked up with critical eyes. “ Did you finally start acting like an adult?” Ras asked harshly and Corn thought, how can I when you always treat me like a child? sadly. 

Ras leaned forward and Corn knew what he wanted him to do. GOD, he hated his life. He wandered over, exhaled on Sans, and Sans considered this. Papyrus pulled back and crossed his arms over his chest. “ can i go now?” he asked quietly. Ras cocked an eye socket, “ In that?” 

Corn made an unpleasant face, “ these clothes are fine, Sans.” He wore old, stained sweats and his big voluminous black jacket over a sable tank top. “ No!” Sans exclaimed. Because his life isn’t complete until he’s picked over everything I’ve ever done, Corn thought with annoyance. He really SHOULD have gotten his lazy ass up earlier. Sometimes, he could pretend to already be asleep when Sans got home, then Sans would just let him ‘sleep’. It was the only way out of this crazy run-around they partook in. “ Civilized monsters wear PAJAMAS! They were invented as a sign of wealth, Papyrus! Stop being a savage and go put them on!” Papyrus frowned and protested, “ but-”

“ But WHAT?!” Papyrus sighed, “ nothing, bro.” 

“ Try again.”

“ Sans.”

“ One more time.” 

“ my. . .” Papyrus looked to the floor and felt so suddenly desperate for this all to end. Why couldn’t this be DIFFERENT?! He just wanted to ESCAPE! What about that was SO BAD?! Why couldn’t he LEAVE THIS PLACE! “ lord.” 

“ Go get fucking dressed.” Sans stated darkly, his sockets burned with malice. Papyrus walked away, climbed the stairs, entered his room, and collapsed in a flood of dirty clothes sobbing and screaming into dirty socks. Sans took a sip of wine and his eyes found the paper again. ‘ Asgore Dremmur Re-elected in Close Race. The mayor of New Home commented on the results of the election-.’ Sans was spooked suddenly by the sound of the door knob being jarred with. His soul raced, his eyes darted to the jiggling worn, bronze knob.

He reached for his gun inside his jacket. The door opened and Gaster yawned widely as he walked in. Sans didn’t relax but he did remove his jumpy hand away from the lethal weapon. He took another sip of wine as he glared at his father. Great, just what his evening needed. He was already anxious as a result of the amount of unanswered phone calls he was receiving from Alphys. She was gonna kick his ass tomorrow, and he knew it. Gaster was just more unneeded stress. The elder monster stretched and carried a brown paper bag in hand. He looked over and his eyes widened in surprise. 

Sans bitterly greeted, “ Are you high or sober?” Gaster smirked, “ Does it matter, lovely? You’ll still think I’m a junkie either way.” They shared tense, hard eye-contact before Gaster asked, “ Where’s Papyrus?” 

“ None of your business.” Sans retorted coldly. Gaster smiled sweetly and Sans wore stoic aversion on his countenance. “ Thank you, darling, you’re always so full of sunshine.” Under the lyrical voice, was dark resentment. Sans didn’t want to be the one to break the eye-contact; that was a sign of weakness. Gaster didn’t look away either and a minute had to have passed. They may have stared at each other for forever if not for-.

“ Sans, i-” both Sans and Gaster looked to the staircase where Papyrus stood, now frozen. His big eyes shook slightly. The tall, scarred teenager now wore fleece pajamas of royal blue; in the form of a button down shirt with a pressed, soft collar. The entire outfit was covered in yellow construction trucks and signs; the pattern and style were childlike. He gripped onto the guardrail tightly as if the world was suddenly in the middle of a scale nine earthquake. “ Sans!” he screamed, looking to his brother. “ you didn’t tell me HE would be here!” 

Annoyance was Sans’ expression. “ I didn’t know. I never do.” he stated, looking back to Gaster harshly. Gaster’s smile was trembling, a loud laugh broke the air. “ What the fuck is this?!” he asked, gesturing between the two skeletons with expressive hands. “ Some Daddy kink shit! Ha!” Papyrus felt like he was dying. Sans stared with impatience. It wasn’t sexual.

“ ugh! you two make me want to DIE!” Papyrus screamed and Sans’ socket twitched as Gaster bent over, his bag of brown falling to the ground. He slapped his knee and his body shook with laughter. “ W-what do you give him a bottle of warm milk too, Sans?!” Gaster was dying of laughter, Papyrus was envious. “ fuck! fuck!” the younger screamed and Sans looked over to see Papyrus holding onto his skull like trying to keep it from exploding. “ fuck!” 

“ Calm down, Papyrus!” he scolded, standing from the couch. “ Stop laughing, father!” he barked at Gaster, who entirely ignored him. “ i’m throwing myself out a window!” Papyrus screamed and turned to flee up the stairs. Sans ‘tch’ed and shouted, “ And this is why I don’t like you here!” in his father’s direction. Gaster wiped a tear away and had settled down some. “ My house. Leave if you don’t like me here.” he finished with a shrug. Growling, Sans turned towards the stairs and sprinted after Papyrus. That fucking idiot. Gaster sighed happily, those two weirdos always did put him in a better mood. He was glad he had come home for the night. 

Sans ran into the hallway and screamed, “ Papyrus!” soul slamming fast. A cold sweat took him. Fuck, fuck, fuck, where was he?! He ran past the open bathroom, glancing inside to see it brother free. Papyrus’ door was thrown open, Sans skidded inside and spotted Papyrus slamming himself against the glass. He was in tears. Of course he couldn’t just open the window, Sans had padlocked it shut. Corn screamed and looked around for something heavy to throw against the glass pane. When he turned, he saw Sans and breathing heavily, said, “ just let me die.” Sans stared harshly, narrowing angry sockets, and stalked towards him. 

“ Over. My. Dead. Body.” he grabbed Papyrus and shoved him down on his stupid frameless bed. The frame had broken a couple months ago and father had refused to replace it. Sans knew he should have just done it himself. Papyrus bared his teeth in a more fierce expression than Sans had seen from him in months. He gripped the filthy sheets behind him. Sans swore, adrenaline racing, “ I won’t let you die. Don’t even THINK about it!”

“ Sans!” Papyrus shouted in a desperate way, Sans jumped down on top of him and Papyrus struggled under his him. Sans’ sat on his chest and slapped him across the face. “ NO! NO FUCKING DYING!” Tears spilled over Papyrus’ skull, “ please!” he begged. “ it’d be all over so quick!” he promised. Sans smacked him again. “ you wouldn’t feel anything!” Another vengeful slap. “ i know you have a gun, DO IT!” Tears formed in Sans’ sockets too. “ NO! WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO DIE?! WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?!” Papyrus shrieked, “ how about you TORTURE me?! how about life being pain after strife! who would WANT to live?! if you love me, you’ll kill me.” Sans stared at him; his whole body trembled.

“ Papyrus, don’t say that.” Papyrus stared up to him, sockets resigned. “ that’s all i want, Sans. i’d love you if you killed me. i’m never going to get better, Sans, end it. please.” 

Gaster hovered outside the doorframe, he listened passively, beginning to feel a bit of the fear he was sure Sans lived in. 

“ I won’t KILL YOU!” Sans screamed, “ If that means I hate you, then FINE! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!” He punched Papyrus and Corn released a whine of pain. “ So live! Live, you fucking idiot! I want you to live!” He grabbed Papyrus’ jacket and raised him up, tears dropped from his sockets. Papyrus watched his older brother feeling a desolate sea of depression, it was so hard to care, to care about anything. Sans was crying right in front of him but he couldn't get himself to be surprised or empathic or satisfied or ANYTHING. He knew it would cause Sans pain, him leaving, but he caused him pain everyday, surely in the long run it would be less painful for Sans this way. Sans crumpled in on himself and pressed his skull into Papyrus’ fleece pajama top. He sobbed. Sobbed and held tight as if it all might slip away. Gaster decided he needed to leave again. Never mind, these weirdos weren’t doing anything to brighten his mood. 

As he took a few steps to the stairs, he wondered why Sans wouldn’t just do what he needed to. Not kill Papyrus of course, but bang him. That was Gaster’s solution, Papyrus was attracted to Sans, had been for a long time, they were created as surrogates to one another, their souls would love it. Papyrus would feel he had a purpose for being here, even if it was only as an object for sexual pleasure and maybe Sans could trick him into thinking he loved him. They could move out and play fucking house for the rest of their strange, fucked lives, maybe even make their lives a little less fucked. But Sans wouldn’t because he was afraid of making things worse. Because of fear. Because of what happened when Papyrus was fourteen. What happened to Sans when he was fifteen, because of what would haunt Sans till the day he died.


	10. Two Play-buddies for the Price of One!

The soybean chorizo was done! Blue spooned it onto the plate, smiling widely at the charredness. Perfect! he thought. He placed the pan back on the stove and then moved the plate over to his work area, on the counter, next to a couple taco shells. He served some of the cooked substance into the bottom of the shells and then went to grab a hand of washed lettuce, he sprinkled some on and then as he turned to go get some of his diced tomatoes, warm arms grabbed around his waist. He laughed as Gaster placed a kiss on the side of his skull. “ How's the cooking coming? It smells so good!” the elder pronounced in his easy-going, soft on the ears voice.

“ Great!” Blue announced and his father released him, Blue turned around with a wide grin. What a lovely surprise! His dad hadn't left the basement in about two days, that was his painting studio. His father did mostly abstract work, although he had been known to paint whatever he wanted; very emotional works. Once he has disappeared down there for a week and when he re-emerged, he looked like he had gone on a hands-on tour of a paint factory and was smiling so wide Blue thought his face would split in half! He called the piece ‘Upon the Water the Birds Weep for You’. It was on a giant canvas, 16 by 12 feet, his favorite size. Blue wasn't really sure why it got that name since he couldn't make out birds nor water in the rampant, vibrant layers and swirls of colors but, he thought it was pretty nonetheless.

“ I made one for you, dad!” Sans chirped as he turned and walked over to his cutting board, it was surrounded by his victim's guts. Mr.Tomato didn’t stand a chance. Alphys had told him you have to beat the ingredient like it's your worst enemy. Blue had envisioned marijuana as he stabbed the fruit’s soft flesh. Not a chance in hell.

He grabbed a handful to bring back and when he looked over his sockets widened. Gaster crunched one of the shells between his teeth and muttered, “ Oh my god, so good.” with a mouth full of food.

“ Daddy!” Sans protested, hurrying back over, “ They’re not done! You can't eat them yet!” He tugged at Gaster’s sleeve and Gaster stepped away from the plate, taco still in hand. “ Dad!” Sans complained. Gaster chuckled as he swallowed, “ Sorry, my son, I just couldn't help myself! They’re delicious!” Blue’s annoyance was diminished by the praise.

“ Well, thank you.” He held a small hand out and looked to it. “ I know.” He pulled his head back up, “ But still, father, you must be more patient!” Gaster nodded and took another happy bite. His blue vest was stained with paint splatters, he was taller than Sans by quite a bit but was shorter than Stretch. He had pretty white skin and bright star eyes, one of blue and the other orange. He had the trademark eyes of any Gaster and had the kind of expressive face that made him absolutely transparent. He was more content to paint poker chips than play them.

Blue sighed, his father was hopeless sometimes. Such a mess! Gaster was an untamable free-spirit, had always been that way; he did whatever he wanted and neither reason nor wisdom could dissuade him once he had chose a trail to blaze. Once he had decided they were going to take a trip to a lake and fish, despite the fact that none of them had ever fished before. They rented a small boat, rods, and a tackle box before setting out to sea! They had ended up capsizing and without any catches but Gaster still had a smile on his face as Stretch angrily poured water from his crocs and Blue laughed at the mess they had made. Gaster had giggled too, Blue suspected it had never really been about the fish anyway.

“ Mr. Classic called.” Blue explained with a smile, he had picked up and explained his father was currently in the middle of an art piece. Classic Gaster had wished him good luck and told him that he was welcome for dinner anytime. “ Hm? What about?” 

“ He wants your help for a project down at the lab.” Gaster gave an expression of distaste. “ Again?” Blue chuckled, “ The work is good, isn't it? You should be HAPPY!” Blue would love for people to ask him for his help on a science project; that had never happened. Science was his worst subject after Math, English, and History. His teachers often encouraged Gaster to get him a tutor when he was still in grade school and as Blue would looked between the two adults shamefully, Gaster would just smile in the most graceful way. “ My son is just fine, Ma’am. He's the smartest monster I’ve ever met, there are some things books just can't teach you.” Sans held onto those words, his dad was the smartest monster HE had ever known and he would admire him until the end of time.

“ It’s just, Classic has a very. . .traditional way of doing things.” Swap elaborated with an uncomfortable expression, he scratched behind his neck, “ It's not that I don't like the guy but he can. . .be kinda-”

“ Proper?” Sans offered and Swap nodded, “ Sure, he has a certain methodical way of doing things and I can never tell what he's thinking. It unnerves me quite honestly.” Blue chuckled loudly. “ Mr. Classic makes you nervous, dad?! But he's so nice!” Swap took an unhappy bite of taco, “ Plenty of people act nice, Blue, but few people actually are.” Sans smiled, “ I think anybody can be nice if they just try!” Gaster smiled warmly at that, “ I guess you’re right.” he agreed and gave Sans’ skull an affection rub. A giggle left Sans’ mouth as he did so.

“ Why so many?” Gaster asked, looking to the full tray of tacos. Sans turned and sprinkled the decimated red fruit over the mound of ingredients in each taco shell. “ Pap-Pap is coming over!” he replied and Gaster smiled, “ Ah, you do like Classic’s boy, don't you?” 

“ Of course! He's the coolest!” Blue and Classic’s Papyrus had been best friends since childhood, they were inseparable! Although Papyrus was quite busy nowadays. Sans’ life was much quieter in comparison to his friend’s. He took classes at the community college, and watched after his father and the house. Papyrus had a job, commuted to waterfall, and was trying to get into police academy. Blue had always wanted to be a police officer as well, they had promised as children they’d work on the force together! But Blue had decided that could wait, see, he couldn't stand it; the distance. It was killing him. From the moment Stretch had uttered the words ‘New Home University’ Blue knew he would follow him. He couldn't imagine being apart. He loved Pappy too much for that but- he could still see the rejection letter in his hands, shaking slightly in his trembling grip. He didn't understand- he had worked so hard, so many long nights spent studying by lamp side, he had done a ton of volunteer work down at the Home homeless shelter, he-.

“ oh, bro, i’m so sorry. it’s ok, you’ll go somewhere even better. they don't even deserve you! you’re not real upset, are you?” Blue had laughed, of course he couldn't compare to that straight A manuscript Stretch had handed over with a smile. 

“ It’s ok, Pappy! I'm so proud and happy for you!” Stretch had smiled. He had no idea Blue wanted to cry, the rejection stung. Not good enough for them? he had thought, not enough? He decided he wouldn't give up. He'd try again next year! And he'd get in! He'd be so good they’d BEG for him to come! He'd get in in if he had to break down the headmaster’s door at three am and plead! One way or another, he was going to get to Pappy’s side. Because that's what he wanted. Because he wanted Pappy close.

Gaster looked down at his watch, which had some red paint covering the six. “ I guess I should run down there before evening, huh?” Blue blinked widely, “ Shouldn’t you call first, father? What if Mr. Classic’s not there?” Gaster grinned, “ Classic is ALWAYS there, once I forgot my coat so I came in at 2 pm on a Saturday and there he was, honestly that guy’s a workaholic.” Blue poked his father playfully in the chest, “ What about you and your painting? How long has it been since you slept?” he asked with a slight chiding undertone. Swap Gaster laughed, “ I don’t need sleep! The gods of alertness bless me!” Blue chuckled as his father struck a superhero pose. “ Well, ok, Mr. Alert, I still think you should take a nap and a shower before you go down there.” Swap took another bite of his taco. “ I’ll be fine.” he said messily, Blue leaned up and grabbed a piece of lettuce that hung from his dad’s mouth. “ Uh-huh.” Blue agreed sarcastically, “ Well I still think-”

A knock sounded at the door. Blue’s disapproving expression slowly grew into a confetti and streamer smile! “ Pap-pap!” he exclaimed and Gaster laughed politely, “ Have fun, you two.” He grabbed another taco off the plate and Blue waved bye after him, “ Don’t overwork yourself, dad!” Gaster smiled as he wandered away, giving the teens some privacy. Blue grabbed the tray of tacos and raced into the living room, he slid them onto the coffee table next to the chip and dip, veggie sticks, and cheese plate. His white teeth shone the sun off them! It was show-time! He threw the door open! “ Pap-pap!” He froze as Classic Sans grinned uneasily in the doorway. Blue’s smile quickly faded, “ . . .He can’t come, can he?”

Classic Sans nodded awkwardly, “ i’m real sorry, Blueberry.” Blue chuckled weakly, “ That’s ok! It’s no problem!” He winked and playfully hit Classic on the shoulder, “ What’s that goofball up too?” 

“ oh uh, he got called into work last minute, one of his co-workers got sick and you know Pappy, he just loves to help. he felt really bad though,” Classic Sans offered, scratching behind his skull, “ he won’t be off till late tonight.” Blue held his forced grin in place, “ That’s ok! My buddy is so cool, helping out some monster who really needed him like that! He really is so selfless!” Sans chuckled, “ um yeah, he is.” They faded to silence and Blue asked, “ So uh, when he’s done will he able to come over? We were planning to have a sleepover.” Blue explained, a little bit of the desperateness he felt slipping into his tone. Classic shrugged, “ uh. he didn’t say anything to me about that, sorry.” Blue felt a sharp prick of irritation, “ I made this plan with him over two weeks ago.” Some sweat appeared on Classic skull, “ i only know what he told me.” Blue sighed and placed his gloved hands on his hips.

“ Why didn’t he just call me?” 

“ uh, i don’t-”

“ Is he avoiding me?” 

“ um wow i-”

“ Why didn’t he just say NO!” Classic flinched and Blueberry’s face became honest; sad and angry. Fucking pissed! “ I am more IMPORTANT! He probably just COULDN’T say no! That- ugh! He drives me nuts sometimes!” Classic was now the one wearing a fake smile. “ i’m sorry.” Blue glowered at him for a moment and then sighed, “ It’s ok, it’s all ok, Classic, I just. . .” Some tears welled up in Blue’s eyes and Classic panicked a moment, “ h-hey d-don’t cry. . .” 

“ I just miss him!” Big round blue tears dropped from Berry’s sockets and Classic reached forward with open hands, “ i-it’s ok, i’m sure he m-misses you too, don’t cry.” feeling quite uncomfortable. Blue gave a small wail and Classic hugged him with uncertainty, “ it’s gonna be ok, buddy, don’t cry. i’m sure he’ll be back tonight.” Blue hugged him back and sniffled into Classic’s shoulder. “ R-really?” he asked and Classic sweat as he assured something he wasn’t certain of, “ really. just relax, ok?” Blue exhaled and then shot back with a bright grin, “ Awesome! I’m going to make him watch NTT with me! Do wanna come hang out until he gets here?” Classic panicked again, he couldn’t exactly say no after Blue just CRIED! But what if Pappy didn’t show up?! Then HE would be the insensitive liar! Oh God, how did he get himself into these situations?! 

“ s-sure?” 

“ Mweh heh heh, astounding! We’re going to have an awesome time, Classic!” Blue grabbed hold of Classic’s hands, his eyes looking like the Fourth Of July. Classic looked wary as Blue pulled him inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	11. Muffet(‘s)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every SAT-SUN <3 Feel free to leave any comments down below!

“ You know I didn’t ask for cream in my coffee.” Papyrus, Classic’s, frowned. “ YES, you DID!” The ‘customer’ smirked as he stated, “ Uh, no, you’re wrong. Are you really disagreeing with a customer?” Papyrus took a deep breath and said, “ No-no,” he took the coffee grumpily. “ I’ll get you a new one.” He grumbled as he started to turn away from the table. “ And hey, you should smile more, doll-face, customers tip pretty smiling girls well.” Papyrus spat, “ You know I’m not a girl!” over his shoulder. The ‘customer’ laughed. Papyrus skull burned as he stalked back over to the counter, he threw the coffee in the trash and a small spider whispered, “ What was wrong with that one?” to the skeleton above them. Papyrus sighed as he walked around the dark purple and white counter. “ He said he didn’t ask for cream.”

“ But he did!” the little spider fought, it stood on the top of the register. Papyrus nodded, “ I KNOW.” he replied with restrained aggression. He was very patient with customers, even temperamental or rude ones, but this one; this wasn’t even FAIR!

“ Do you need help, I could call Muffet?” the spider offered and Papyrus held up a hand, “ That’s not necessary, Web. Thank you though. It's nothing I can't handle! I'm the Great Papyrus!” he explained with a bright grin and hands on his hips, “ Plus I’m uh,” his grin lessened and he brought his hands down to the counter, “ I’m used to it.” he explained as he got a fresh cup out and went to fetch the coffee pot. “ What do you mean?” Web asked, turning their little black head to follow Papyrus. Papyrus wore a simple, pressed work uniform of a white apron over black slacks and a red long-sleeve shirt. The tall skeleton sighed, “ He’s my neighbor, he’s been harassing me since he moved into the neighborhood the summer we were starting third grade.” 

“ Oh man, that stinks.” Web replied and Papyrus nodded, “ But I know it’s just because he’s had a hard life that he acts like that, he vents his problems out on me, not just me, others too of course. I try to keep in mind that his unmannered antics come out of pain, not malice. That-” he smiled slightly as he poured the coffee into the cup, “ makes them easier to bear.” Web smiled at him, although Papyrus couldn’t really tell, Web being so small, and replied, “ You’re a good kid, Papyrus.” Papyrus smiled, “ Thank you, Web! I am pretty great!” Web giggled as Papyrus rounded the corner and padded across the white-purple checkered floor once more. He huffed out some air and tried to prepare himself for the harassment to come. He cocked his head though as he got closer, someone had slipped into the empty side of the booth across from Edge, and he didn’t look happy about it. The woman across from him had scarlet crazy hair that poked and flew everywhere! She had pretty tealish-blue skin and wore a jagged crop top of a broken scarlet heart, she was tall and had muscular exposed arms. 

“ U-Undyne?!” Papyrus questioned as he approached the table! He was a little shocked, he had never thought the police captain would be meeting with a delinquent like Edge! Especially while wearing something so u-unlike her! Could this be the true Undyne?! When she’s off the clock and feeling wild?! I will accept my friend no matter who she likes to hang out with in her spare time! Papyrus thought with determination. Undyne and Fell Papyrus turned their heads. “ Holy shit, Pap, you got a twin?” Undyne asked, with her sharp teeth glinting into a curious smile.

Edge scowled in response, “ NO! This is my idiot neighbor.” he explained with a huff and a cross of his arms, “ He looks sort of like me but that’s entirely coincidental!” 

“ Sorta?” Undyne asked, “ He’s the spitting image!” Papyrus stood by the end of the table now, coffee cup in hand, watching Undyne and Edge curiously. Maybe this wasn’t Undyne? Or, she was pretending she didn’t know him! Oh, he got it, Papyrus was a genius; he could put two and two together! Edge and her were dating, and Undyne didn’t want to make Edge jealous by telling him she hung out with such an amazingly talented skeleton like the Great Papyrus! That made sense to him! “ Actually,” she looked Papyrus up and down again “ he’s a bit more handsome.”

“ WHAT?!” Edge exclaimed loudly and Papyrus startled, or um. . .she was t-trying to make him jealous? Oh wowie, Papyrus was confused! “ You JUST said we were the spitting image of each other!” Edge fought with an angry look.

“ Yeah, but he wears it better.” Undyne explained and Edge grit his teeth, “ That’s bullshit!” Edge was very insulted, he was the most attractive monster he knew! 

“ Um, please no swearing Edge.” Papyrus put in, “ You’ll scare the other customers.” Edge threw his hands out, “ WHAT OTHER CUSTOMERS?!" The shop was empty except them and Web, who watched this warily from the counter. “ Ok!” Papyrus conceded, “ You’re scaring ME.” He set the coffee cup down in front of Edge and stated, “ Honestly, Undyne you could do so much better!” looking to the female monster. “ You’re an amazing woman and Edge, he-he just isn’t suited for you!” 

“ That’s fair.” Undyne responded and Edge exclaimed, “ What are you implying, dunderhead?! We’re not together!” He glared from Pap to Undyne, “ Tell him we’re not together, Undyne!” Undyne stared at Classic Papyrus straight on and stated, ” We’re engaged.”

“ Oh WOWIE, UNDYNE!” Papyrus exclaimed, a bright grin suddenly appearing on his face, how exciting! “ I’m SO EXCITED FOR THE WEDDING! CONGRATULATIONS!” 

“ IDIOT!” Edge protested, stamping a foot underneath the table, “ We’re NOT TOGETHER!”

“ CAN I BE THE BEST MAN, UNDYNE?! CAN I?!” Papyrus asked vehemently. Edge shouted, “ Are you even LISTENING?!” Undyne chuckled, “ Of course, but to clear things up first, I don’t know you.” Papyrus winked, “ Right, of course, you don’t.” Undyne’s expression dropped to seriousness, “ No, seriously, punk. I don’t. You must be thinking of somebody else.” Papyrus’ sockets grew and he looked to Edge. Edge frowned as he explained, “ This is a different monster by the same name and similar appearance of your Undyne, moron. Just like you and me.” 

“ OH!” Papyrus exclaimed and Undyne smirked, “ You’re a little slow, aren’t ya, punk?” Man, this was so cool! Two Undynes?! Papyrus thought with happiness, that’s double the fun!!! “ No, Captain Undyne!” Papyrus saluted, “ I am a very fast runner!” Undyne looked to Edge with a smirk, “ Ah, I see he shares your massive intellect.” Edge’s eye socket twitched and Papyrus smiled widely. She thought he was smart! 

“ Can I get you anything, Captain Undyne? Spider donut? Cider?” 

“ Croissant.” she stated, glancing to the menu laid on the table. “ My fiance will pay for it.” she said, deadpan, and Edge exclaimed, “ STOP, I SWEAR TO GOD!”

“ Coming right up!” Papyrus exclaimed with a wink and wandered away happily. Edge watched him go and then glowered at his boss. “ Why are you pestering me on my day off? I’m on call for you-”

“ 24 hours a day, 6 days a week!” they continued together. Edge made a face of distaste and indigence at the mockery. “ Listen,” she leaned forward, “ you got jumped, didn’t you?” Her tone changed to quiet severity. Edge shrugged and answered, “ It was nothing I couldn’t handle and anyway, it wasn’t like that.” He dropped his volume and leaned in as well. “ A van was following me and then when I stopped to confront them, a fucking horde of spiders jumped out of it! But like I said, I’m fine. I escaped basically scratch-free.” Undyne nodded and inquired, “ How is the poison treating you?” 

“ Poison?” Edge asked and Undyne’s yellow eye widened for a moment and then she laughed in disbelief. “ You’re an animal, Edge.” she praised, her eyes flashing with excitement and hunger for a moment. Edge blinked widely as he quickly understood, oh my god, he realized, they were poisonous?!

“ Muffet uses ultra poisonous suckers, I’m surprised you can even eat here with fresh memories of those things.” Undyne glanced down at the menu decorated with cartoon arachnids along the border. Edge felt some sweat spring up on his neck vertebrae, holy shit. Am I OK?! he worried, now that Undyne mentioned it, he had felt a pretty strong burning sensation after he had gotten home from the little spider adventure. “ W-well you know me,” Edge proclaimed, “ tough as fucking nails.” 

“ More like tough as venomous spiders!” Undyne exclaimed and Edge felt a spike of uncomfortable fear, did she have to keep mentioning that? Oh well, Edge assumed if he was going to drop dead by cups upon cups of spider venom, he would have done so by now. Maybe he could convince his father to take a look at him later. 

“ Heh, yup.” he replied uneasily and then Undyne’s impressed smile left and one of her business masks came out. Or maybe one of her friendly masks was taken off. Edge could never really tell. “ But for real, Papyrus, stealing from Muffet was pretty fucking stupid.” Edge drew back and little, not expecting the criticism. “ But you were the one who-”

“ I told you to get me some fucking snow white not steal from a gang leader not loyal to The King!” Edge crossed his arms and looked off with discontent. She was NEVER HAPPY with him! “ Why not?!” he fought, “ Muffet is a fucking small-fry, she doesn’t pose any real threat!” Undyne bared her teeth and growled, “ Listen, Edge, Toriel’s men are forcing us to spread thin. Things are more precarious than they look, we don’t have resources to waste. So tell me if you’re gonna do something like that again, alright?” Her eyes bore unsaid threats. She was asking in words only. Edge frowned but nodded, whatever. Undyne should have told him not to steal if she didn’t want him too. 

“ Your croissant, Undyne!” Papyrus chirped as he placed down a fluffy brown croissant drizzled in chocolate syrup on a cute round plate onto the table. Undyne stood up, “ See ya Edge.”, she said curtly, and walked off towards the doors. Papyrus frowned after her and asked, “ Do you not want your food?” She didn’t reply and Pap looked to Edge. “ Did something happen?” he asked, “ I hope you two didn’t have a fight.” Edge gave an audial growl and slammed some g on the table, the gold coins spilling everywhere. Papyrus flinched as Edge shoved past him, coffee in hand. He watched him leave with a frown and then sighed as he went to collect the g.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	12. Morphine in all its forms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swapfell Chapter-but pretty trigger free surprisingly. Just physical violence and mention of depression, oh, shit, and mention of cutting. Yeah, fuck, it's not graphic or anything but that could definitely trigger someone. Stay safe everyone. God loves you. You're all his precious children and have so much infinite worth you have no idea. I hope if anyone is struggling right now, that you feel better soon. I promise you it gets better. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on the story or to say whatever you want! Enjoy the chapter!

Sans shrieked in pain. He curled inward and felt like the whole world was crumbling. A steel-toed boot connected to his chest and the impact shot fiery pain through his nerves. He coughed up some blood. He refused to cry but tears of pain grew on their own. They didn't wait for their owners’ consent. Sans felt some warm liquid on his skull. He looked up and the world felt like it was spinning. He vaguely put together the grit-teeth, yellow scaled monster above him had spit on him. “ Had enough, punk?” All the monsters gathered around the underground conference room leaned forward in their seats or on their toes. Slowly Sans put his hands on the floor and pushed himself to his knees; he then stood up. The room groaned. 

“ Give it a rest, Sansy!” one of the monsters complained. “ He’s such a pain in the ass!” someone else groused loudly. Sans wiped the blood from his brow, it was dripping into his sockets. “ Please,” he taunted, voice taunt and tired sounding. The skeleton smirked with pointy teeth. “ I’m just gettin started, ya dumb bitch.” He motioned for Alphys to come forward and raised his fists up to go another round. He lost every round. The other monsters didn't understand why he tried. “ Come on!” someone shouted, “ Give it up already!” 

“ Knock him on his ass, Alphys!” 

The monster across from him was his height but she weighed a good 40 pounds more. Sans was all bone, Alphys was pure muscle covered in scars, scales, and spite. She was his direct superior and yet, . . .this always seemed to happen.

She ground her sharp teeth back and forth and looked at her pain in the ass pupil. He was bruised all over, cuts from her claws raking him; dripping profusely red. He kept all his weight on one foot, she had crushed the other under her boot, and protected his lower left side. Musta cracked a rib, she thought with irritation. He was young and stupid and entitled. Just because his father was Toriel’s damn consort, he thought he could get away with murder. Well, he technically did get away with it. But that was nothing to brag about, there wasn't a monster in this room that hadn't done that. He spit some blood and Alphys took the brief break in eye-contact to charge forward and punch him across the face. 

Sans stumbled back and Alphys threw another, a small fragment of bone flew off. Alphys delivered a fast kick to his side that he caught but barely. The force made him retreat to the side of their informal ring. He stared at her harshly but their was some desperation there. She was better than him and he knew it. If Alphys had found a more effective way to punish Sans, she would have used it. But nothing quite shut Sans up like getting his pelvis kicked in front of the monsters he was supposed to be in charge of. Not that they liked him, if their jeers counted for anything. 

Sans took a step back and if he wasn't more prideful, he might have tried to run for the door. But Alphys knew he wouldn't. She had taught him better than that. You took the beating. You could struggle if you wanted. You could scream, even cry. But you took it. And you never dared think you deserved any better. She jumped on top of him and they fell to the floor hard, Sans taking the brunt of the impact. He struggled as fruitlessly as a kite in a tree underneath her pounds. Her weight on top of him, she wailed on him again and again. It full of anger and frustration, at her stupid student who never seemed to learn anything. He had endless potential but Alphys personally thought he squandered it. The exclamations from the crowd grew more and more as Sans put up less and less of a fight. “ Get him, Alphys!” 

“ Don’t be such a bitch, Sans! Get her!” 

The lackeys loved this occasion show. She slammed one last one down and Sans didn't raise his head again, his sockets closing. Alphys sat a moment, sweat dripping down her scales and then got up, wiping some of it from her brow. Thank God, that was over. 

She stood up slowly and turned to walk from the combat area, she watched some faces in front of her, specifically Catamoy and Catagressa, they had their teeth glinted eagerly and their eyes hanging onto the violence. Alphys wondered why they were still- “ Stupid bitch!” Alphys had a leg pulled out from underneath her! Losing her balance, her snout hit the cement floor hard. The crowd relished the surprise! A twist! Alphys dug forward with her claws and whipped her head around to see Sans, with her calf in hand, dragging her back across the floor. “ STUPID BITCH!” he screamed and Alphys thought, he was faking it?! She kicked her leg up and broke his grip on her. She twisted around as Sans jumped back. Big mistake, he shouldn’t have let her regain control but she would critique this fight with him later, although honestly she sometimes worried he'd end up beating her with one of her tips. Then what would she do? It’d be kinda embarrassing, wouldn’t it?

She leapt to her feet and the crowd was in love! They hated Sans as much as they admired him. He NEVER gave up! Sans was breathing heavily and his sockets looked hazy, as if he couldn't tell where he was. She would be surprised if he didn't have a concussion. She wondered how much longer she'd have to do this with frustrated irritation when Sans fell back and hit the concrete hard. He had lost consciousness. Some of the crowd’s monsters booed and some laughed, commenting on how that had been the best one in a while. Alphys breathed an internal sigh of relief. He was such a pain in the ass. 

“ Someone take him to infirmary.” she stated, using a collected, authoritative command voice. “ Yes, Captain!” Catto called and ran over to him, picking up the bleeding mess in his arms and throwing Sans ungracefully over his shoulder. Alphys stretched and looked around at the murmuring crowd. “ So, who's taking Sans’ patrol duty?” The excitement faded from their faces and they groaned. Alphys smirked, she always had the last laugh around here. 

 

A damp fleshy thing hit Sans’ cheekbone. It was dark. It touched him again and he grew irritated; it was kind of gross feeling. He peeled his sockets open, wincing at the bright lights above his skull. They danced, the world swayed, the fleshy thing prodded his face again. Trying to stabilize his vision, he looked over and a tall woman sitting in a stool slowly focused into view. Her voice, first distorted, broke through the haze of sounds that floated through Sans’ head. 

“ You awake, sleeping beauty?” Sans sat up and flinched at the rush of pain to his face, ribs, and left foot. His skull throbbed. “ Hey, you listening?” she asked, he looked to her. She smiled widely, yellow teeth peeking through tight blue lips. She was a fish monster, moist skin of azul, tall; nearly seven foot, with scarlet hair pulled up in a messy bun. A tight lab coat adorned her person and fell to her mid calf, she had thick black gloves and leather straps under her bust, along her waist, and under her shoulders similar to a backpack’s straps. Sans groaned and greeted with accusation, “ You’re not supposed to-” he brought a hand to hold his ribs gingerly. God, one was definitely broken. “ -be here.” he finished with strain. 

Undyne chuckled, “ Is that any way to t-talk to your caring nurse?” Sans stared daggers at her. “ I’ll tell Alphys.” he threatened. A twisted smile grew over her face, “ And I’ll tell Daddy you cut yourself.” Sans froze and looked at her with tenseness. 

“ Interesting scars on those ribs, sweetie.” Ras smiled widely and laughed. “ They weren’t self-inflicted, you dumb bitch! I pissed off some of Asgore’s lackeys and they had some fun with me. I wear them with pride!” he proclaimed with an arrogant grin. Undyne raised her crimson brows skeptically, “ Then why have you never shown them off before? Y-you do love to talk about your badges of ‘honor’.” she said the last word with jest and turned on the wheeled chair. She grabbed a syringe and punctured the top of a sealed jar.

“ What’s that?” Sans asked, not willing to partake in the scar discussion further. “ Something for the pain.” Undyne replied and Sans gave a growl, “ As if I’d let you drug me.” He swung his legs over the side of the cot and stood up, it hurt to put weight on his left leg. He grit his teeth. “ You sure you wanna w-wander around all day throbbing like a clit?” she asked, disapprovingly. Sans paused and some blush raised in his skull. Did she have to use THAT comparison?! 

“ I’m fine, thanks!” Sans spat bitterly and did a quick self-inspection. His clothes looked mostly in order although his handkerchief had some blood spots on it. He didn’t even wanna see his face in a mirror though, he was sure it was a breeding ground for bruises. Undyne blew some air through her lips and carelessly gestured around with her full syringe. “ Your d-dad said I should make sure you get some.” Sans stiffened with an expression of anger flashing across his features. He hated Gaster. 

He was the straight-up definition of an absentee father. If you looked up inattentive in the dictionary, you’d find a picture of him. He was barely home, completely unsupportive, and yet he would do small useless things like telling Undyne to make sure he got some morphine, like he fucking cared! Acting like he did when he so obviously didn’t! If he did, he’d leave Sans alone and fix Papyrus! At least make an attempt to do something! 

Sans often felt like he couldn’t handle Papyrus’ depression, it took so much strain. It hurt so bad to watch him suffer. He didn’t know how to communicate that to his younger brother, so he was harsh and critical with him. All in an attempt not to fall into the dark state of moping that Corn lived in. He sometimes fantasized about Papyrus snapping and beating the shit out of him, because at least the resistance would show Papyrus thought he was deserving of better treatment. Of a good life. Of life. It wasn’t sexual as their dad often claimed in smart jabs and snide remarks, Sans was just trying to save him. But he didn’t know how. He hated that he couldn’t save him, hated that his love wasn’t enough. Gaster could do it, Sans knew he could, and yet. . . he stayed away and left checks on the dining table after midnight. 

Sans glanced back and judged how much morphine was in the syringe. “ A dose that high will knock me out of it for the rest of the day.” he stated, fisting his hands by his sides. 

“ You don’t wanna hang with me?” Undyne asked in mock hurt and a pouty expression. 

“ You’d probably fuck with me while I was sleeping.” Sans complained and Undyne chuckled. “ Maybe. . .” she replied dangerously. He turned around and repeated, “ I don’t want any.” 

Undyne shrugged and placed the needle down. “ Then I won’t give you any more.” Sans’ sockets widened and he growled. She had already given him a dose. “ Stupid bitch.” he grumbled and she smiled innocently, “ I-it was your old man’s orders. Can’t disobey the boss man.” Sans sighed and waved her off, “ Whatever. It better not be enough to mess with my head.” he warned, starting off to the door. “ The pain will do that, sweetie.” Rolling his eyes, Sans reached the infirmary door and opened it. 

“ By the way,” Undyne called, “ I heard Alphys wanted you to find her in the north wing.” Sans frowned, “ Good thing I didn’t hear that.” Undyne snickered and asked, “ Do you LIKE getting beat up?” with amused disbelief. Sans shrugged as he left. He couldn’t deny there was a certain thrill there, and honestly, the pain was also something to remind him he was alive, so he didn’t like it but he also. . .didn’t really mind it. Anything to take his mind off Papyrus. He pulled out his phone and texted Asgore.

‘Has he eaten?’ He stared at the screen and frowned a moment. Then he sighed and began to wander down the corridor. He needed to go out on patrol.

Patrol wasn’t really a patrol at all, well you were supposed to keep your eyes peeled for anyone out doing business that wasn’t loyal to Toriel Dremmur in Queen territory but depending on your position you had plenty of other jobs. Ras did a lot of coordinating, he organized what girls went where and planned for new ones coming over the border and when they were sending them out. Of course, he did a lot of hands-on work too. He had a hand in every basket and in his opinion, he was amazing at everything he attempted. Alphys and others had a different opinion but he was certainly useful at least in some areas because they kept him around despite his constant disrespect and antagonistic behavior. That and he could take multiple bullets and live and his father was the Queen’s personal ‘doctor’. 

By the time Sans reached the garage, Alphys had caught the grape-vine and was ready to greet him. He glowered at her venomously and she grinned at him, leaning against the back of one of the Queen’s black cars. “ Man, you look like shit.” she commented and Ras turned to go, he didn't have the patience for this right now, that and the morphine was suddenly making him feel woozy. He took a few steps back the way he came, trying to walk on his injured foot so Alphys couldn't see just how bad she had beaten him. 

Alphys lunged forward and grabbed his shoulder and he glared at her sharply. Anger burned in her eyes, you didn't walk away from her. “ Get in the car.” she ordered. Sans smirked, “ Over my dust.” Alphys’ expression became dry as Sans pulled away from her. He would be dust one of these days if he didn't get his act together. 

“ You’re such a brat!” she commented and Sans froze and looked back, “ And you’re such a bitch! What do you WANT?!” He was breathing heavily and his soul suddenly felt heavy. Alphys walked over to the car and opened the passenger door. “ I want you. To get in the car. Or do you want another beating, punk?” Sans stared at her hatefully, his ribs burned.

The streets of New Home were beautiful or disgusting depending on where you were. Up town was the university and shopping center, the old buildings of grand size and careful creation, town hall, the city library, an art museum, one could get lost there. Twirling with a laugh in the town hall gardens, surrounded by pinks and reds and blues your mind couldn't hope to capture perfectly; something that’s beauty could only be seen for that single moment. How fitting, because every moment ends. The outer parts of New Home were row housing, with broken windows and triple locked doors. Apartment buildings with cheap rent and under the table dealings. Where the weather always seem to rain. Ras and his family lived in one of the better complexes, where they didn't have to completely fear being robbed or killed but the area wasn't good, Sans had always known that. It was inevitable him and Papyrus would get wrapped up in crime. 

Ras had joined a gang at age thirteen, the initiation was you had to stab somebody on the street. He had been celebrity around the neighborhood for he had stabbed his woman thrice. The cops of New Home were paid off crooks and left cases as easily as you threw out a half-eaten sandwich. Ras had spent a night or two in holding before, it wasn't a big deal, he had friends that would get him out. They never had enough evidence to pin him with anything anyway. When he had met Alphys, he jumped at the chance, he knew what he was making now was kid money; he wanted the big bucks. He wanted to drown in the wealth, to be respected by all who saw him! Of course, that hadn't gone exactly to plan. Things were better in the royal court and yet, they weren't. The pay checks had gotten bigger but so had the risks, he could go to prison for the rest of his life, worse he knew Alphys and the others would kill him in an eye blink if they thought he had betrayed them, and then there was Papyrus. . .; there was no way out. Even if Sans tried to stop, at this point he couldn't. What would be the point now? All the monsters he'd killed, the women who had begged him for their families back, who just wanted to go home, it would be a disservice to them. It would be a disservice to the world. He was dark, and he would die that way.

Still, Sans didn't want to die and didn't intend on it any time soon. He didn't feel guilty and surely wasn't depressed like his brother. He wanted to live, he wanted to live and give Papyrus a good life; that was all he wanted. And if he had to kill and steal and take beating after beating after beating, until he was broken, scarred, and discarded, then so be it. He was strong. He was magnificent. He would save Papyrus, he would show Alphys, show father, show EVERYONE. He would show them he could be happy, and he didn't care how much destruction he had to create to reach that happiness. He'd tie it to a chair and beat it till it gave in, and then joy would be his property. Joy would be his prize.

“ All I’m saying is that if you listened to me, this kind of stuff wouldn't have to happen.” Sans sat with his skull in his hand and scoffed, not looking at Alphys, “ You’re so fucking weird.” He leaned back in his seat as Alphys asked, “ How?” 

They were currently parked in the upper part of town outside a small, family owned shop. Ras gestured to the cherry topped ice cream cone in his hand, “ You don't think this is weird?!” Alphys shrugged and took a bite of her own popsicle stick, “ What? I like nice cream.” 

She unrolled the piece of paper wrapped around her stick and smiled as she read, “ Have a great day. Isn't that nice, Sans?” Ras gave her a dry stare and took a resentful bite of his dessert. Alphys was a weird monster. Often after one their scuffles, she took him out to food, yeah like a glamburger would make up for a broken rib and public humiliation. He tried to avoid the outings but Alphys was as persistent as he was.

“ What does yours say?” Alphys asked casually and Ras shouted, “ I don't care!” losing patience. Alphys shrugged and licked her pop, “ Whatever, I just thought you could share something for once. You never talk to me, Sans.”

“ You’re my boss and you beat me on a regular basis. We smuggle slaves over the border together and sell heroin to addicts.” Ras stated with exasperation. “ You’re the last monster I want to confide in.” Alphys grinned, “ That's fair.” Alphys’ gaze glanced over the crowd in front of the ice cream stand, her eyes suddenly stopped on something interesting. “ Hey, Sans, is that your brother?” Ras blinked and sharply directed his gaze out the window. He saw a smiling skeleton among a few monsters, he was tall, and lanky, he did look a lot like Papyrus. Ras’ soul raced. Did he get out?! No-no, Asgore would have called me! He leaned forward and squinted to see more clearly. He opened his door and stated, “ I’ll be back.” 

“ K.” Alphys agreed neutrally. She didn't know much about Sans’ family, but she had seen Papyrus before. Three or four times, a long time ago, when Alphys had watched Sans from a distance before inviting him in; she often saw them out on the streets together. He was tall and every bit as ferocious as his brother, although he seemed to do whatever Sans’ said, out of fear or respect Alphys couldn't tell. She had considered recruiting both of them but by the time she had finalized her decision, he had up and vanished off the face of the underworld’s earth. She didn't know why and had never bothered to ask. She didn't find out Sans was Gaster’s boy till much later, of course he was. They both turned into a major pain in her ass.

Ras’ boots walked quickly over the pavement, and he wondered if maybe the morphine was playing tricks on him for- this monster really did look like Papyrus, they had the same facial structure, the same socket size, the same thickness of neck vertebrae, longness in fingers, though this skeleton wore polished clothes that made him look like a prissy kid; tight khaki pants that pulled at his pelvis and showed off the curve of his hips whether he acknowledged it or not, an orange and brown pull over sweatshirt with neat pockets, shiny converse, and a brand spanking new silver watch hanging loosely around his wrist. He lacked scars though and his bone was as white as unused sketchbook paper. His eyes had some spark to them but also a subdued nature, of somebody who was resigned to live life the way they didn't really want to but had accepted regardless.

Ras paused once he encroached on the small group of monsters and first one, then another, then all of them turned to him. The Papyrus like skeleton dropped his ice cream and asked, “ Sans?!” with a shocked and slightly frightened expression. He glanced Ras up and down and then to the car back in the lot behind him. Murmurs took the small crowd. “ You know him Stretch?”

“ Stretch knows him. . .”

“ He looks awful, what happened to him?” Ras bristled at that one, sorry he couldn't look pretty for them, entitled pricks. They were probably fucking college kids. His eyes never the left the Papyrus-like skeleton in the middle, apparently his name was Stretch. “ Dude, you dropped your nice cream on my shoe.” a Loox beside Stretch complained. Stretch’s still alarmed sockets were on Ras, he began to look a little curious. “ Red?” he asked with the tilt of his skull. 

Sans replied curtly, ” You were right the first time. What's your name, boy?” Stretch blushed, being called that by a skeleton shorter than him was a little embarrassing, plus the guy looked like his brother and couldn't be more than a year or two older than him. His skull was bruised and cracked, scarred. He looked like a scary version of his caring, energetic older brother.

“ P-Papyrus Gaster.” he answered and he acknowledged adding his last name was probably overkill. Ras narrowed his sockets, that was fucking impossible. That this guy looked almost exactly like his little brother and also had the same legal name? That was preposterous! Impossible. “ Are you joking with me?” Ras replied, taking an aggressive step forward. “ Do you think it's funny to imitate a guy’s brother?” Stretch blinked widely, what? “ I don't know who you are but you are NOT Papyrus!” Ras considered teaching these idiots a lesson. They must know Papyrus’ name and be trying to get a rise out of me, Ras aggressively thought, they’re mocking me! 

“wh-what? i-i’m not joking with-”

“ No!” Ras took a step forward and pulled Stretch by the hoodie down to his level. “ Shut the fuck up.” Stretch soul hammered in his ribs. “ You think somebody like you has any right to call himself that name?! You think that name suits you?! Do you?!” 

“ Hey man, get off him!” 

“ Yeah!” 

But Stretch’s friends voices did not permeate the shell in which Ras and Stretch were contained; for a moment they were stuck in a vacuum with just themselves, even the air being sucked out leaving only the fierce, burning, dark blue eyes whose star looked like a horrible, black joke in the center. Abruptly, Ras released him and turned, stalking away; fuming and grumbling. He was too injured to pick a fight right now, even against these morons. 

“ Yo, you ok?” 

“ Hey Stretch, who was that weirdo?!” 

Stretch stared off after the retreating frame, smoothing out the piece of his hoodie that he been grabbed with a stunned, wary look. “ yeah um, i don't know.” he said hesitantly. Eyewalker asked,” Want us to beat him up for you? I don't like people picking on my friends.” Stretch was startled back to the present and assured, “ heh, no, it's ok. i’m not bothered,” looking down to his friend. Then glancing to the group, he added, “ let’s just go down to the the park like we planned. that guy was just PARKing up the wrong tree!” The small crowd laughed and Pyrope started off in the park’s direction. Papyrus smiled at his friends’ happiness and then glanced back over to the car with tinted windows parked in the back of the lot. He saw the beat up skeleton, that looked like Sans, get into the car with a door slam. He frowned and felt a shiver run up his spine. Hurrying after his friends, Stretch tried to force the incident from mind.


	13. Colorful Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's twenty minutes from midnight where I live so it's still Sunday and I'm not late! Muhahaha! Anyway enjoy~ I update every Sat. or Sun. btw!

The child slept calmly across his shitty holed mattress, scratchy stuffing poking out of it occasionally. It wasn't made well, sheets halfway on; exposing the yellow-white of the quilting, a thick blanket of red, looking just as beat up, was thrown half-heartedly on the kid. Frisk snoozed and dreamt of flowers and children in yellow and green sweaters. Red watched them for a moment and then quietly left the room and, closing the door behind him, pulled out his phone from his pocket. His phone was a few years old and had a crack in the screen. He unlocked it as he wandered through the short hallway to the tall windows of his dorm house. Red had a room all to himself, as did all the monsters in this building; he didn't deal well with roommates. He stared out at the quiet moon and stars in the dark sky. Leaning against the warm glass with his shoulder, he wondered when it would fucking cool down. It was almost December, even if this was New Home, this was a little ridiculous. Oh well, at least it wasn't Hotland.

He pressed the ringing phone to the side of his skull as he lazily looked out at the fields he didn't use, the benches he didn't eat lunch at, the sidewalks he wandered alone, it made him. . .miss home. “ Sans?” a female voice, sounding like it might have been lyrical once but was now was hoarse and dry and rough, picked up.

“ yo Tori,” he returned in a subdued tone, Toriel, reading the tone quickly, cussed, “ Damn it.” and there was some shifting on the other side of the line as the phone was put down quickly. Red heard loud footsteps through the receiver and then some distant screaming, he waited patiently. Then slowly the sounds reduced and after a minute Toriel was back on the line, although a little more out of breath than before. “ I thought that brat had just gone out to the court to cool down.” Red held a frown and he wondered why he was bothering. Just to get the kid out of my life for a while, he reasoned, I like to be alone, having a freakin’ kid around is the opposite of what I wanted when I came down here. Still, Red couldn't tell you the last few hours with Frisk hadn't been nice. They had been. Frisk was annoying but they were also. . .patient a-and good conversation, Red couldn't deny a small bit of affection for the child. Well, he COULD. He did so all the time! But, it wasn't truthful.

“ all day? Tor, you gotta get your act together.” 

“ Yeah, shut it, skeleton!” Toriel barked, “ I don't want parenting advice from you. . .Are they ok? They are with you, right?” 

“ yeah, all the way in New Home.”

“ New Home?! Are you kidding me?!” The phone was slammed down again and Red heard more screaming, then an indigent reply from a slightly different voice. It was hard to tell what was going on. The line cleared back up, “ That's not safe! Are they ok?! That damn kid.”

“ they came in straight to the university on a bus. i think they missed the bad parts of town.” Toriel sighed in relief and then growled, “ I still can't believe they went that far by themselves.”

“ listen, Tor, i don't have time to chat. come get your fuckin’ kid. you can't let them run off cities away while you're drunk!”

“ Shut it, skeleton! They should know better!” 

“ what? so you’re not gonna come get them?” 

“ Of course I will! You’re so dramatic. Who do you think you are?! Their father?!” Sans turned and leaned the top of his skull against the glass, he shifted his arm above it. “ no, course not. that kid they don’t. . .don’t mean nothin’ to me.”

“ Well good, cause Frisk shouldn't be hanging around you anyway.”

“ yeah. . .” 

“ What's the address again?” Toriel asked and some movement could be heard once more.

“ 088 New Home Avenue, New Home University.” A pause ensued and then Toriel said, “ Got it. I’ll be there by the morning.”

“ hey Tori. . .”

“ Yeah?”

“ i’m sorry. . .ya know, i shoulda called or somethin’. i was lyin’ when i said the kid didn't mean anything to me,”Sans stared down to the darkened field with resigned eyes, “ you both mean something to me. i knew the date, i just didn't, i’m sorry. . .” A sigh came through the phone receiver.

“ I-I’m just trying to keep them safe. But, they run off and I get s-so angry and scared, Sans! It's their fault I get that way, you know it's their fault!”

“ yeah, i know, Tori.” Red replied quietly. Toriel took a deep breath, “ I love them, I don't understand why they are always trying to leave. . .” Red didn't say anything further, he wasn't a damn parent-child counselor, he knew that it was complicated and he knew that he cared about them both. That was it. Well almost all of it, see he wasn't a hero and he didn't pretend to be, he knew it got violent sometimes. But Red’s dad had got violent with him, that was just part of how he had been raised. He didn't have moral objections to handing Frisk back over to Toriel, Frisk was tough; they could take it. Tori deep down was a good woman, she just had been through a lot of pain. Not that he was justifying for her, he didn't care, and yet, he did. Papyrus could never understand the dark storm that constantly raged in Red’s head. Dark crowding out light, ocean waves, lightening; so much rain you couldn’t see anything. The skeleton lived on a hell all his own. 

“ we’ll be waitin’.”

“ Thank you, Sans.” Toriel said with a sniffle, “ Thank you.” She hung up without a proper goodbye, that was fine, they’d see each other soon. Sans stared out to the night sky for a moment. He then turned and went back to his room, he opened the door quietly. 

A sliver of hall light entered the darkened dorm room. Frisk’s eyes were open, the brown spheres went to the doorway and asked, sounding quite awake, “ You called her?” Red shrugged and set his phone on his desk, beside his old laptop, making a small thud. “ you hate me?” he shrugged and slid into his desk chair, turning his back to the child. 

Frisk fiddled with the old quilt in their tan hand, “ You know I could never. . .I love you.” Red’s expression filled with pain, “ you really shouldn’t, kid.” Frisk smiled and their eyes gleamed for a moment in the dark of the room. Sans had shut the door and they both drowned in the dark. 

“ I wish I could live with you.” Sans dug his hands into his shorts and said, “ well someone’s got low standards.” His voice was not its usual gruff, angry tone, it was was soft and. . .empathic, his joke barely came off as one. Only in the dark could Sans care about people, when he couldn’t see their faces, when he couldn’t imagine all the ways they could betray him, turn on him, give up on him, he couldn’t stand being able to see their faces. Their disgust, their hate, their disappointment, and then they became resigned. That was definitely the worse, when they looked at him like scum, like trash, like he was nothing and nothing deserved to die. He lashed out and hid himself away because monsters and humans both turned on you so fast. One mistake, one misunderstanding, one thing taken the wrong way, and they’d turn their back on you so fast. Betray you and think they were justified in that. Like they were so much better, they had to protect themselves, they couldn’t protect you too, they couldn’t fight for you, you had to fight for yourself. Sans had learned that early on in his life, despite the illusion of being surrounded with monsters, you were on your own. You always had been.

Frisk giggled but it sounded sad. “ No, Sans. You’re cool, I would love for you to be my older brother.” Red drew a sad grin, “ i’m sure Papyrus would love to trade places with you.” Frisk chuckled and turned on their back, looking up to the ceiling. “ I went to your house first, you know?” 

“ and?”

“ Papyrus shut the door in my face.” Red’s smirk grew a little more genuine, his brother’s douchiness was amusing honestly, almost endearing. He leaned back and said, “ he does that.” still smiling.

“ I didn’t know where else to go, I’m sorry to bother you.” 

“ it’s not a problem, even though i’ll tell you something different tomorrow.” Smiling with melancholy, Frisk looked to Sans’ chair, though they could barely make out the outline of his skull in the dark. “ Heh. . .thanks.”

“ . . .” Something had been weighing on Sans, he gathered up his courage and energy, “ . . .how’s your depression?” He froze as he waited for Frisk to reply. Their white teeth appeared from their lips. “ . . .It’s in a sad state of affairs.” Red laughed loudly and Frisk grinned brightly. He loved puns, though he often tried to deny it. When he calmed down, he rested his head on the back of his swivel chair. “ that bad? that sucks.” Frisk nodded but shrugged, “ It’ll be ok though. . .thanks for asking.” 

“ thanks for not giving up on me.“ Sans said and immediately flushed, closing his eyes, slightly embarrassed he had said that. Frisk smiled patiently, “ Only an idiot would.” they replied and Sans felt beyond lucky for a moment. Frisk would stay awake all night, Sans would pass out on the desk at half-past two. The ghost in Frisk’s head would dance around the dirty room chattering until Frisk wanted nothing more than morning. Chara really needed to shut up sometimes. 

 

Frisk and Sans stood on one of the greens near the visitor center. Frisk paced back and forth while Sans leaned up against one of the big shady trees. “ stop your pacing, you’re makin’ me nervous.” he complained and Frisk frowned and continued to pace. “ Flowey’s going to be so mad at me.” they stressed and Red scoffed, “ who cares what the houseplant thinks?”

“ A-and mom is going to be so angry, she’ll probably-probably-” Frisk paused and then started pacing again, “ I don’t know what she’ll do!” Red continued to watch with an annoyed gaze as Frisk ignored his request; he wasn't that mad though, reasoned even the pacifist needed to take part in some rebellion once and awhile. He smirked at that.

“ wow, exhausts ya just watchin’ it.” Red jumped and slammed a hand to his chest as his skull whipped to Stretch, who gave a playful smile and leaned up against the tree where Red had stood a moment ago. 

“ don't fuckin’ sneak up on me like that!” Red barked aggressively before taking a moment to still his racing soul. “ jesus, Stretch.” Stretch giggled and then said, “ you’ll never guess what happened to me yesterday!” with alert, excited eye lights. Red cocked an eye socket to him and thought it was unusual to see weedbag with so much energy. Yes Red did look down upon Stretch because he smoked pot, only cause the idiot thought he was so edgy when he wasn't. Stretch would probably take heroine of you told him it was ‘advanced weed’, as to say, he was completely clueless, at least that's how Red saw him. He was a clueless idiot who didn't know what he was getting himself into.

“ i don't fuckin’ care, we’re NOT friends!” Red snapped, “ don't you have like a zillion other monsters you could be telling this too?” 

“ trust me if it was about anything else, that's where i’d be.” Red narrowed his sockets with resentment. Stretch wasn't actually all that nice, he liked to pretend to be but he'd lash out at you with venom when he felt wronged, which Red did feel was reasonable but he also didn't like. He didn't like monsters like that, although he supposed he was worse than those monsters for he treated everyone like trash, even people who hadn't done anything to insult or harm him. He just wanted to know up front: were you a good monster or a bad one? He certainly would never lie to you. He respected that about his brother and father too, at least they didn't pretend.

“ Hi Stretch!” Frisk greeted and walked over to the oak tree with a slight smile on their face. Their hands played with the bottom of their sweater, revealing their nerves. Stretch held up two finger by his head, “ yo, kiddo, what's up?” 

“ I’m going home.” they answered and Stretch smiled, “ excited?” Frisk frowned, responding with, “ Not really.” Stretch’s smile turned sympathetic, “ sorry, kid.” Frisk shrugged and turned around to pace again. 

“ could you get out of here?” Red asked, crossing his arms over his chest, “ i’m tryin’ to spend some time with the kid before they leave.” Stretch pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and then leaned away from the tree to finger around for his lighter in his tight pockets. “ hold up, i gotta ask you something.” Red waited as Stretch struggled a moment and then pulled the cheap lighter out with a pleased smile. He rolled his eye lights at how long it took. 

“ one day you’re going to get stuck in those stupid things and i won’t help cut you out.” Red grumbled. Stretch chuckled as he leaned back against the tree. “ they’re in fashion.”

“ what do you know about fashion?” Red question dryly. “ more than you.” Stretch retorted, “ is that a mustard stain on your jacket?” Red glanced down, his gaze was a waterless desert. It was. “ listen weedbag, what do you WANT?!” 

“ jeez, hold onto your shorts, i’m getting there.”

“ get there faster.” Red stated with a vexed expression, he was very impatient Stretch took a drag of his cig and then asked, “ ya got a cousin in New Home?” Red was taken back, a cousin? “ uh no. . .i. . .don’t know anything about my lineage honestly. i’m not convinced my dad has family, they’d probably kill themselves if he did.” Red commented dryly, staring off to the ground with jadedness. His dad was the WORST. 

Stretch grinned and explained, “ well there's this guy that looks a lot like you in New Home.” Red listened carefully, somebody who looked like him? 

“ oh god.” he replied with distaste and Stretch snickered, “ what? i think it’s cool. his name is Sans too!” he explained excitedly. Red gave an expression of discontent. Another one? he thought with none of the delight Papyrus shared. “ well, that's fantastic, Stretch. maybe you can finally make a friend named Sans.” 

Stretch crossed his arms over his chest and said, “ Classic’s my friend.” Red cocked an eye socket as Frisk made their over again. “ yeah but i thought you guys were like ya know, more than that.”

“ what?” Stretch asked and Red said bluntly, “ don't you two fuck?” Frisk turned back around thinking, nope. Stretch blushed as he saw the child turn and then glared back down at Red, “ we most certainly do not! i like girls now, you idiot!” Red wore a dry face as he replied, “ no straight guy wears pants that tight.” Stretch ‘tch’ed and exhaled some smoke. “ i think you’re projecting.”

“ and i think you’re uncomfortable with your sexuality.” 

“ i think you’re ANNOYING.”

“ well, you’re insecure.”

“ ass!”

“ fagg-”

“ OK!” Frisk announced, clapping their hands. “ That's enough, you two!” They still had no idea how THEY were the most mature being in the room, yard? If the world was filled only of Frisks, it would certainly be a more peaceful place. Stretch flushed and apologized quickly, “ sorry, kid.” taking his cigarette from his mouth and knocking some ash onto the ground. Red’s expression was mildly grumpy. He knew Frisk didn't like him using that kind of language. 

Frisk, now standing a little closer, crossed their arms over their chest and looked out to the entryway to the parking lot waiting for that broken down Honda to pull in. It would be a miracle if it had survived the trip. Red cleared his throat and asked Stretch, “ so this Sans guy, why did you want to tell me about him?” 

Stretch took a moment to collect himself, trying to ignore how Red had ruffled him. “ well i just thought. . .” Red waited patiently as he continued, “ maybe you would want to know or something.”

“ oh uh,”

“ but i forgot you don’t care about anyone or anything.” Red frowned as Stretch looked to him harshly for a minute. Frisk sighed deeply and Red thought it might have been because of Stretch’s statement but then he followed their line of sight to the parking lot. 

The old black car rolled in and their eyes hung on it. Red watched Tori’s car a moment and then walked over to Frisk. He looked off to the sky and shoved his hands in his pockets, he didn't know what to do, he felt kind of like resting a hand on their shoulder or something, to like support them or some shit but. . .he wasn't really supportive. He didn't really know how to do. . .that. Be all kind and open like Frisk was, he wasn't fit for those things. They were just beyond him. Stretch was wrong, he DID care, he just couldn't express it. He just couldn't show it, he couldn't make the people he cared about understand that. 

“ she’s here.” he said lamely, Frisk grew a sad grin. “ So she is.” Frisk turned and threw themselves against Sans in a tight hug. Red was surprised, he tensed and felt himself sweat. Oh god, he didn't do physical affection. Frisk buried their head into his chest and said, “ promise me, you’ll take care of yourself.” Sans felt his soul ache, his arms slowly enclosed around the child. “ sure thing, sweetheart.” he said quietly as the car parked.

Toriel had come over and lectured Frisk for a while, Frisk apologized for running away, then Flowey yelled at the child more viciously, not for running away but for leaving him behind, Frisk apologized again. Holding Flowey in their arms, they started over to the car as Toriel had ordered. They gave a small smile over their shoulder and Red caught it. He returned an uneasy grin. Toriel thanked him for taking care of Frisk in her absence and then made fun of his height and Sans called her bitch. She laughed like a witch and then paid him a head pat and wink before returning to her car. Sans hoped they’d be ok. He watched the car pull out with a smile still on his face. 

“ wow, who ARE they?” Red startled and looked to Stretch who was suddenly beside him. “ stop DOING that!” he protested, he didn't like surprises! Stretch was so tall, how was he also silent?! 

“ why?” 

“ because it's annoying! why are you still here, weedbag?!” Couldn't the guy take a subtle hint?! 

“ so if you’re gay, and she’s not your woman, who’s the goat mom?” Stretch asked, curious and not overly offended by Red’s statement. Red scowled and explained, “ her name is Toriel, she’s Frisk’s mother. adopted.” Red added as explanation. Papyrus stared out to where the car had been and said, “ dude, it's all so freaky.” 

“ what is?” Red asked, and Stretch looked to him with concern. “ i know a goat monster named Asgore who also adopted a human kid. isn't that weird?” Sans shrugged, “ it's not THAT weird. there's a lot of goat monsters and ya know, sometimes monster-human adoption happens, although never the other way around.” Red answered, looking off to the ground with distaste. A human would NEVER adopt an orphan monster.

“ Red.” Stretch said seriously, “ he had a brother named Papyrus, a little brother named Papyrus.” Red looked up and Stretch’s expression was quiet and desperate. “ he looked just like you and my brother, he looked right through me, like he knew everything about me. Sans, i want to find him. i want you to help me.” 

“ why?” Red asked, realizing who they were talking about, the new Sans guy in New Home. “ you don't even like me.” Shrugging, Stretch exhaled some smoke. “ i can't help but feel like you’re involved. like we’re all connected somehow, like in some other life he could have been my brother or. . .me.” Red scoffed and retorted, “ what are you even talkin’ bout, weedface?” with a skeptical expression. 

Stretch’s expression grew annoyed and he exclaimed, “ i’m not sure! but i want to find him, Red! he looked like he was in pain, and i. . .i feel a responsibility to him.”

“ just cause he looks like your bro?” Stretch nodded, then stared down to the grass for a minute.” listen i know it’s stupid but he. . .he just seemed so cold, Sans should never look like that. i want to find him and maybe help him.”

“ and if you can't?” Stretch looked up and fidgeted, meeting Red’s eyes and then quickly avoiding them. “ i-i don't know, are you gonna join me or not? i don't wanna debate this all day.” Red stared to him with curiosity, was Weedface really that serious about this? Stretch was serious about very few things, he wandered through life life with untied shoelaces and a lazy grin looking for his next small thrill. But now, his face seemed. . .thoughtful, maybe anxious too. Red frowned and put his hands in his pockets, he had taken them out while talking to Toriel. He hadn’t seen Stretch like this in a long time, if ever. He sighed and said, “ only cause i got nothin’ better to do.” 

Stretch beamed, “ thanks, man. i’ll text you.” Without waiting for a response, he walked off and pulled his phone from his pocket. It wasn’t easy, Red frowned after Stretch, wasn’t easy interacting with monsters like Stretch, monsters that didn’t know true hate or anger in their soul, it was like talking to blind person and trying to describe to them what it was like to see. But they only called you a jerk when you pointed out the color of something, because they couldn’t see it. . . but you weren’t really trying to be rude, you just- the colors screamed around you and you desperately wanted to show them to someone, anyone, but they couldn’t see and they just couldn’t understand and, they never would be able to.


	14. Very Sneaky

Papyrus took a deep breath, straightened out his shirt, and puffed out his chest. This would be no problem. Sans had taken care of this for him, it would be fine. B-Blue wouldn’t be m-mad, right? Blue was generally kind and understanding but he. . .sometimes got. . .feisty. That was best way Pap-pap could describe it. Once when they were eight, they were playing cops and robbers. Pap-pap was playing the robber and while he preferred being the police officer, was not going to let Blue win without a decent chase!

Blue had given him one rule before they had begun, along with the basement being off limits as usual, he had told him to avoid the living room. Stretch had apparently been working on a lego tower that he was very proud of. Papyrus, in the thrill of the chase, had forgotten, and when he ran past, the grand, complex structure had fallen with a bump of his small hip. It had shattered into multiple fragments and individual legos spun all across the tan wooden floor. Blue had screamed at him, completely stopping the game, and had gotten so loud, Mr. Swap had come out of the basement and was forced to intervene. Papyrus had felt quite guilty, but it had only been an accident. He offered to fix it but Blue spat he wouldn’t be able to make it the same! Stretch had come down the stairs at the ruckus and had shrugged and said it was fine, after Papyrus’ honest, passionate apology. Blue still hadn’t talked to him for a week. He feared his best friend’s temper, heh, he grinned nervously as he knocked, hopefully it would be fine. 

He waited a moment and then heard loud footsteps running to the door. The red door was thrown open and Blue held it open with eyes brighter than stars and grin wider than the wage gap in Home. He didn’t look ang- “ Pap-pap!” he exclaimed and Papyrus gave a warm grin, “ Blueberry!” Blue jumped forward and embraced Papyrus in a strong hug. Papyrus chuckled and returned the embrace, laughing. “ NYEH HEH HEH! Seems as if somebody missed me!” Blue looked up with a devious grin, “ Nope!” 

“ What?” Papyrus questioned with a cock of his head. Blue narrowed his eyes and confidently explained, “ I found a new best friend in your absence!” Papyrus made an expression of despair. “ No! Blue! Why?!” he asked with his sockets beginning to gloss over. Blue laughed brightly and shoved his head into Papyrus’ cotton, scarlet shirt. “ I’m kidtng.”he said, muffled, “ You’re my bemstie.” Papyrus was greatly relieved, he pressed his head down into Blue’s shoulder. He was glad! He didn’t know what he’d do without Blue! 

Blue pulled back and said, “ I was going to tease you about sending your brother as a substitute, what a silly head. As if he could replace-” Blue made his voice extra deep and placed a fisted hand to his chest and extended the other as if reading a monologue in a shakespearean play, “ The Great Papyrus!” Papyrus grinned and also struck a dramatic pose, “ Well,” he said confidently, “ I thought you could settle for second-best!” 

Blue chuckled and then exclaimed, “ But what happened?! Why didn’t you just call me?! Or even send a text or something!” He looked distressed, frowning deeply. Papyrus grew an apologetic countenance, “ I’m terribly sorry, Blue! I would have but um-” he grew an uncomfortable expression, “ I kinda. . .” 

The image of his dad beginning to scream with distressed protest, as he stood next to a bubbling, boiling pot, with his newest version iphone inside its water, crossed his mind. 

Blue made a face of confusion as he asked, “ But why did you assume the rice you put your phone in was being cooked?” After Papyrus had finished that part of the story.

Pap-pap shrugged, “ I don’t know, I just assumed so. I think Edge might have given me that tip now that I think about it.” he realized, staring down at the porch’s floor. Blue grew a dry expression, “ Pap-pap.” he said with a frown, “ You know you can’t take Edge’s words at face-value, did you learn nothing from the seventh grade dance?!” Papyrus paled at the memory. “ I-I did, I just-” he frowned, “ I’m sorry.” 

Blue shook his head but replied, “ It’s ok, I’m sorry that happened.” Papyrus shrugged and stated, “ I’m just sorry I’m late!” He had a red backpack over both shoulders, “ But I’m here now! Ready for a night of fun!” Blue smiled warmly and stepped back inside, bowing and bringing a hand out to lead in. “ Welcome, Sir Pap-pap!” Papyrus chuckled as he entered in, taking in the living room, he was very accustomed too. Green, stuffy couch, brown coffee table, now covered in snacks, ivory, red spotted, wallpaper, and a large tv adjacent to the couch. His sockets widened. 

“ Sans?!” Sans was laying face down on the couch cushions. He lazily lifted his skull and said weakly, “ P-Papyrus, you made it, heh.” He wore a strained grin. 

“ What happened to you?” Papyrus asked, wandering over. Sans laying like that on the couch wasn’t that unusual a sight at his house but at somebody else’s it was quite peculiar. Why was he here anyway? Papyrus didn’t ask him to stay, just be the message boy. Sans lowered his skull back onto the couch and said with tiredness, “ we played.” Blue jumped up to Pap-pap’s side and exclaimed loudly, “ Your brother is so fun, Pap-pap! We sword-fought and played twenty rounds of PuzzlePuzzleMania! Then we had a race around the house!” Blue jumped into a victorious pose, “ The Magnificent Sans won that challenge, of course! Then we played cops and robbers and I caught him ten different times! Classic,” he called, looking over, “ you really have to work on your speed!” Sans held a trembling thumbs up, “ will do.” he said pathetically. Papyrus cringed. Oh no! Blue had worked his poor brother down to the- he stopped himself with an angry expression. He hung out with Sans a little too much sometimes, he swore those dang puns were infectious. 

“ Blue!” Papyrus exclaimed with distress, “ My brother is a lazybones! You seem to have seriously worn him down!” 

With a quick widening of his sockets, Blue exclaimed, “ Oh! Like Pappy?” 

Papyrus rolled his eyes, Blue knew that! They constantly complained about their brothers’ laziness with each other. Why would he torture Classic like- he glanced over with realization and Blue returned a mischievous smirk. Blue HAD known! He had played up his cuteness and sensitivity and pressured his brother into a position where he couldn’t say no to all those activities! “ BLUE!” he scolded and Sans from the couch was so glad he could finally leave. That had been worse than gym class freshman year, before he started skipping with Red anyway.

“ What?” Blue asked with a shrug and Papyrus gave him an indigent gaze, “ How would you like it if I forced Stretch through such things?! You know how they are!” Blue giggled slightly and stated lowly, “ Pappy would just say no.” Papyrus got his bag off and dumped it angrily and unneatly on the floor, ugh, Blue drove him crazy sometimes! They were so similar, it was almost disgusting! He stalked over and then kneeled gently beside the couch. Sans looked to him and Papyrus asked softly, “ Want me to call dad to come pick you up?” Sans grew a dry expression. “ we live like two houses away.” Papyrus stared to him expectantly, “ So?” Sans frowned and shoved his face back into the cushion, “ fhone in pokset.” Papyrus reached in and grabbed out Sans’ phone, a few modules old, he was too lazy to upgrade, said he liked this one. 

Blue went into the kitchen and was humming softly as he poured the cups of hot cocoa. He didn’t really feel ‘bad’ about what he had done to Classic, it was a little unfair he supposed, but a few energetic games never killed anyone. It was a little fun revenge, what was so bad about that? He heard Papyrus speak into the phone receiver in the hallway, “ No-no, he’s not injured, dad. He’s just being lazy.” Blue giggled, how endearing. Wandering across the reddish checkered tile, he crossed into the living room where Classic laid on the couch. 

He said with cheer, “ Hey Classic!” Classic raised his head with effort, “ yeah, Blue?” he replied with a polite if taxed grin. 

“ I brought you some cocoa!” Classic smiled and said, “ thanks.” as Blue placed it down on the table in front of him, moving a coaster under it with a quick hand. Blue continued, “ And sorry about making you play all those games, I thought you would have fun! I didn’t realize you liked things more low-key.” Blue smiled with affection and sighed, thinking of his brother he missed so much. He sat down on the armrest, bringing his own mug covered in pretty blue snowflakes to his mouth and taking a sip, “ Thanks for being such a good sport!” 

Classic gave a soft chuckle and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. “ heh, no problem, lil pal. it was kinda fun.” he offered, with the dry thought, in a kind of masochistic way, to himself. Blue smiled and Classic leaned forward and grabbed the mug Blue had brought for him. He still felt beat but at least he wouldn’t have to walk home, man, he was so spoiled, he knew that. Gaster was as pampering as he was strict. His dad had an. . .interesting parenting style. 

He took a sip of the hot cocoa and it was sweet and hot, little mini marshmallows floating around in the milk. He could tell it was a monster drink by the way his magic replenished and his energy reformed, well, now he kinda felt ok to walk home, but he couldn’t cancel his taxi ride now, that would be rude. 

Papyrus popped back into the living room and announced with a smile, “ Father is on his way, brother!” Sans smiled and replied, “ thanks, bro.” Papyrus came over and gave Blue a disapproving glance. Blue took a sneaky sip of his sweet drink. 

Papyrus yawned widely abruptly and Classic gave a small chuckle, “ you tired, bro?” Papyrus startled and assured quickly, “ No! Of course not! The Great Papyrus never tires!” Classic smiled warmly and said with care, “ of course he does. you need to take care of yourself, bro. will you be ok without your bedtime story?” Papyrus flushed slightly, nyeh! He didn’t like it when Sans mentioned that in front of other monsters! He-he was far too old for that not to be embarrassing! Of course, he hadn’t thought that way till Edge overheard him say something about it and proceed to make a big deal out of it for his ENTIRE freshman year. Literally nothing good happened Freshman year, at least not within the school building. 

“ I’ll read to him!” Blue pronounced, cutting in, “ I do it whenever Pap-pap can’t sleep and he’s over here!” Papyrus blushed a bit brighter and Classic chuckled warmly, “ oh, ok, thanks, Blue.”

“ No problem! It reminds me of when Stretch was a babybones! Ah! He was so cute! He always wanted me to read to him!” Classic chuckled and Papyrus really wanted to get off the subject of being compared to a babybones. 

“ So um, brother,” he asked Sans, “ did you like PuzzlePuzzleMania?” Sans nodded calmly and Blue added, “ Did he like it?! He was amazing at it! Even better than the Magnificent Sans. . .” he muttered, looking off to the side bitterly. Classic smiled and Papyrus smirked with pride for his older brother’s skill and because it was right for his stubborn friend to lose after what he pulled! “ No one beats my brother at logic games!” Papyrus pronounced and Blue gave a laugh before saying, “ I bet my Pappy could beat him!”, sockets becoming energetic. Papyrus was taken back! What?! No! Why did Blue have to make everything a competition?! 

“ Yeah well MY Sans is the smartest monster I know! He's always reading about smart stuff about space and quantum physics and stuff!” Sans drew back a little with a happy, flattered blue blush as Blue retorted, “ Well MY Pappy got into New Home University with a 4.3 GPA!” Papyrus stated, “ Well that's great for him.” stiffly. He couldn't try to discredit Stretch’s accomplishments. “ But MY Sans could get into New Home if he wanted or anywhere! Right, Sans?!” Classic laughed and gestured forward a lazy hand, “ thanks bro but, heh, i don't know about ‘anywhere’.” 

Papyrus frowned and exclaimed, “ NONSENSE! You would get into any place you tried!” Sans blushed and looked down to the floor, sipping another bit of cocoa. Wow. Papyrus was always so confident in him. He wondered how his brother was like that. Blue gave a small smile to him too and said, “ Pap-pap is right! Believe in yourself!” Classic laughed and felt a little uncomfortable because of the attention. He cleared his throat and silently wished his dad would hurry up. 

“ y-yeah-yeah, whatever guys.” he replied, still not making eye-contact with the two positive skeletons. Blue smiled and then proclaimed, “ Pap-pap!” He stood tall and launched out a dramatic finger directed at Classic’s Papyrus. Papyrus looked up to him with wide eyes, huh? “ I challenge you to a round of PuzzlePuzzleMania!” Papyrus grinned, “ Nyeh heh heh! That is a grave error for you Blueberry! I shall defeat you easily you, I am the-” * he placed a palm to his chest proudly-” Great Papyrus after all!” Blue snickered and retorted, “ Bring it on, Pap-pap! You can't beat the Magnificent Sans!” Sans glanced over and watched them with affectionate eye lights. They were so damn cute. “ Race ya!” Blue pronounced and Pap-pap leapt up and began to sprint after Blue, who has bolted from the room. Classic chuckled quietly in the silence. He had no idea how they had so much energy. He leaned back and closed his eyes, taking a slow, savory sip of cocoa. 

Shortly, there was a knock on the door. Sans got up slowly and went over to it. It felt weird to open up Blue’s door but his little brother and said skeleton were all the way upstairs, probably mid puzzle battle so he figured he'd get it. “ yo, dad.” he greeted as he pulled open the door. Classic Gaster stood tall, hands laced neatly behind his back, black turtleneck lintless, sable slacks pressed. His skin was as white and flawless as snow. “ Sans.” he greeted and he seemed to relax just a bit. “ Are you ready to go?” Sans nodded and said, “ yeah, i’m basically all ready.” 

“ Good.” he replied and brought his hands to his sides to ask, “ Where is your brother?” Sans chuckled, “ he's probably wrestling Blue over a controller upstairs. they’re playin’ a video game.” 

“ Well is he prepared for the night? He asked me for permission to sleep over earlier.” Sans felt some awkward sweat on his skull. “ you know technically he shouldn't even need your permission, he's eighteen years old.” Gaster raised an sharp, dark eye at him and stated, “ Of course he needs permission. I’m not just going to let him sleep at his boyfriend’s house without my consent. He still lives with me after all.” 

Sans blinked widely and froze. “ . . .what?” he asked, voice low and detached sounding. Boyfriend? What did his dad just say? Boyfriend? As in, Papyrus and Blue were-were. . .dating? No-no, that-that was impossible. Beyond impossible. Beyond imagination. Beyond common sense and logic. Papyrus didn't do that kind of thing. He didn’t date. He was so young and so innocent! He was not the dating sort. He-he would never date. That-that was insanity. 

“ Sans, are you ok?” his father asked, “ Your eye lights-” Gaster put his smooth, holed hands on Sans’ shoulders, Sans drew away. “ i’m fine.” he said lowly. Gaster reluctantly let him go. “ Did something happen? Tell me what's wrong.” Sans pulled his hood up and snapped, “ no! take me home.” Gaster looked to him for a moment with a frown, then he sighed and drew back, “ Ok.” he resigned. He turned and Sans slowly followed him. 

Sans hated his eye lights, they didn't work like Papyrus’ did. Sometimes they disappeared altogether, leaving empty dark sockets. He could still see fine but it was weird, not to mention, if you knew why it happened, it made him nearly transparent. Gaster had explained to him a long time ago it was a sign of emotional distress. If he felt a spike of hate, anger, sadness, hopelessness, anything dark enough that he couldn't shrug away, the dark feeling took his eye lights and they disappeared. He hated it. There was no privacy with it and that made him pissed. He didn't ask for his inner feelings to be on display! No other skeleton he had ever asked had confessed to having the same problem. He guessed he was just one of a kind. Wow, he thought sarcastically, how lucky.

In the car, a shiny, undented, silver Lexus, Sans buckled in and Gaster hesitated before starting up the car and starting out. The white, holed hand hovered over the shift and Sans asked, “ what's wrong?” somewhat impatiently. “ Do you think Papyrus has everything? Toothbrush? Pajamas?” 

“ he's Papyrus.” Sans responded, bringing his hands down to his pockets. “ you can't spell prepared without several letters from his name.” Sans winked for that was something Papyrus often said. Gaster gave a small huff but reasoned, “ Yes, I suppose you’re right.” before glancing out the back window and shifting the car into reverse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	15. Bitter Aftertaste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, I can't believe we're at chapter 15 already! I hope ya'll are enjoying <3 Another Swapfell Chapter, so you need the- trigger warning-suicidal thoughts, depression, gang violence- please don't read if you think you'll be upset. Be safe. I love you!

“ Up ya go.” Papyrus remained limp as the large furry arms came and slowly picked him up. He was lifted with the expression of a person who didn't fear being dropped. He was slung over a broad shoulder and a deep, booming voice from underneath him explained, “ I made some pie in the kitchen. Doesn’t that sound nice, Papyrus?” Papyrus stared deadly to the floor. The area around his eye sockets was darker than usual. Sans had set up in his doorframe last night as he had curled up and tried to sleep. But it was hard normally, and with a pair of hawk eyes glued to your every move, it was impossible. He couldn't even go smoke to calm himself down, Sans wouldn't let him smoke weed in front of him. That was ‘fucking disgusting shit’. 

Corn didn't know why Ras pretended to be above drugs, he knew his older brother had done his fair share of abusive substances. He wasn’t a junkie like father but he was experienced enough to know weed wouldn't kill anyone. 

Corn hadn't fallen asleep until the early hours of the morning and he awoke to this loud, unignorable voice greeting him good morning. It had left and it had been probably a few hours and he hadn't moved. He just couldn't. What was even the point? What could he do? Nothing. Though he did manage to squirm across his floor to his drawers and pull on some fresh, age-appropriate attire. He couldn't stand anyone seeing him in those damn, degrading pajamas. When dad came in last night, he had kind of lost it. Him and and father had a . . .benevolent if distant relationship. When he was young, he remembered his dad bringing them to the gas station downtown on Saturdays. That was probably one of things he remembered the most vividly of his years before ten. 

Father then was tired and foul-mouthed as he always was but he would let them go and pick out a piece of candy that one day a week. One fateful day, Papyrus had picked out an almost expired bag of gummy orange slices, and he was heading to the counter when he stopped. There was this bear. A teddy bear. On a stand. It was the most gorgeous looking yellow-orange and its fur looked like the softest thing in the whole world. It had big, real glass eyes of a sparkling pink and a flawlessly stitched heart on its left paw. He recognized it as a part of a popular, expensive brand at the time. The one wealthy, or wealthier, kid at their school would always show her’s off. He had turned and his father was right beside him. The young skeleton had nearly jumped and gotten nervous, words stuttering and slipping from his mouth. He presented the oranges with sweaty hands. Gaster had gotten him the bear wordlessly. No change in expression. No words of permission. Nothing but a bear in Papyrus’ hand along with his orange slices. He admired his dad that day. He felt treasured and loved in a way he never did. He felt like to somebody, for even a moment, he mattered. And he guessed, some of that youthful pining for fatherly acceptance and blessing had stuck around for he HATED when Sans humiliated him in front of Gaster. Though he couldn't avoid it, Sans didn't care who was watching when he degraded him, whether it was with his cruel animal treatment or his doting, nearly creepy, child-like treatment of Corn, he would torture Papyrus wherever and whenever he wanted. 

But then Corn knew that. It was just different that time! Dad shouldn't have had to see that! Especially not when he found it so funny, he always laughed off Sans’ questionable treatment, always the punchline in some joke of his. Papyrus internally died a little more than he already had when his father laughed at his belittlement. He knew he shouldn't care, but it was hard, and unlike Sans, he couldn't help but care. It had always been that way. Papyrus was either dead inside or he was feeling more grossly than a Shakespeare play. Everything hit him straight in the soul. He could never HARDEN himself. 

Back when they had stole, when had they beat, when they viciously belittled, it felt GOOD, of course it felt good! Ha! They were so much weaker than he was! So much weaker than Sans was! But. . .later. . .he would wonder if it was wrong. He would feel. . .bad. And he never told anyone. Sans wanted him tough, cold-hearted, obedient, if Sans wanted him to fight he would. Most of the time, it felt fine so why- why did he awake some nights in a cold sweat? Why did he fear for Sans’ safety every time they went out? Why did the questions run circles around his skull until he was dizzy and breathless? Why did he feel so. . . bad? Heh, he could remember the exact night the illusion fell apart. Sans had already called him a dog for a long time, he had nailed him in the living room a few years prior, so it wasn't respect or admiration or even affection on the line.

It had been a moonless night, a cold rain had took the air. There was a group of Greens out on their territory, the gang of boys had gone to chase them out. Sans had his gun. Papyrus’ blood ran cold every time he had seen that thing. 

Sans had tried to give him one, he had, in response, purposefully messed up loading it an unreasonable amount of times. Sans had gotten frustrated, called him a stupid mutt, and said to ‘forget it’. 

They had caught a straggler Green whose pals had left him behind. They beat him badly with sticks and bats, Corn stood watching, that horrible feeling growing up through his ribs and into his skull. Making him want to explode. Making him want to DIE. Every time a confused member of their own group gave him a suspicious gaze, he’d go forward and take a hit and quickly retreat. The crunch of the bones. The shouts. The hushed scuffling. The metal bat against the flesh. The begging and bleeding and the monster being destroyed. Papyrus felt more than his usual distressed and his usual bad that night, he felt like self-destructing. He couldn’t. He couldn’t live like this. Couldn’t live at all. The cracking. The abrupt silence. The silence that took the group. 

‘ Yo, he’s not moving.’

‘ Why’d he stop shouting?’

Sans. ‘ Hey, stupid bitch,’ A boot grinding into the Green’s head. A kick to move him over. ‘ What’s-’ he trailed off. The group ranged in age from 12-19. Sans was 17. Papyrus was 16. Corn felt himself tremble as the group began to mutter, ‘ Is he. . .dead?’ 

‘ Sans, did we kill him?’ Sans had gave a laugh, “ I think THAT’LL make those Greens think again. They won’t be hanging around our block! Let’s go, guys!” They had taken off running, some whispering, some hooting. Papyrus just stood there and stared. The swollen, red bag of meat that you could barely tell was a monster. What had his name been? Had he said it? Had Papyrus ever heard it? Papyrus’ hands shook gripping the bat desperately. He had killed him. He had given the final blow. He just knew he had. He had killed this monster, he-he didn’t even know his name. He-he didn’t even know his name! He had dropped the bat. Backed up to the alley wall, slumped down there staring at his hands. He’d wait till the cops came. He’d confess. He’d done it. He’d DONE IT. He did it. He did it. He DID it! He DID IT! DID IT! DID IT! DID IT! Orange tears dripped from his eyes, lower jaw shaking so hard it threatened to fall off. No name! No name! God, there was NO NAME! 

“ Papyrus,” Sans. Sans looked. . .concerned? He was kneeling. “ We gotta go, the pigs, man.” Papyrus shook his head no. No. No. They COULDN’T DO THIS! He had sobbed and in between sobs he tried to tell Sans everything, everything, everything. How he always felt bad, how he was scared for Sans, how this couldn’t be the right thing, how there had to be some other way, how he wanted to DIE SO BAD because he was miserable and disgusting and he HAD DID IT! Sans looked horrified and stunned, utterly shocked and confused, as Papyrus began to have drool run down his lower jaw while trying to talk; he was babbling and sobbing so much. He told Sans that he loved him and that he thought about him while he touched himself, he told Sans that he missed dad, he missed him and wanted him to come home! He reminded again he had DID IT! No name! He had explained, no name! He had no idea now, after many times of rethinking the exchange if Sans had understood a word he was saying. It was possible with all the crying and gasps for air and half-finished thoughts that it sounded like an insane person’s nonsense. Maybe it was. But Sans had gathered something for the next day, when they were supposed to head out, Sans told Papyrus to stay home. 

He looked at him as if he was some kind of. . .alien. Papyrus remembered sweating heavily as he asked, “ b-but why, bro?” Sans’ eyes were sharp and suspicious. “ Because I said so.” Papyrus had remained home.

Watching electric numbers pass by above the television. Trying to force no name and Sans and everything and everyone from his mind. The next day, he awoke and stood by the door. Sans told him the same thing. “ b-but why, bro?” 

“ Because I said so.” Red boring numbers. 1. 2. 4. 9. The house was silent like a corpse. Papyrus felt so alone and he tried to keep about his senses as he waited for Sans to return. Father would not come home, he had been gone at this point in time for three months, the only indication they had that he was even still alive was the fact that the utilities and cable bills were paid every month and the cash they received by unmarked envelope in the mailbox. Papyrus didn’t have friends. He found he couldn’t connect with people easily, plus Sans often didn’t like him distracted. He was useful to Sans, he needed him around! So then why. . . The carpet grew and contorted into a vast, deserted wasteland. So why? Why was he here? 

8\. 10. 12. Sans wasn’t home. This was the third day he had been banished to the house. Sans was dead. Papyrus paced and began to cry. That was why he had kept Papyrus home! Something dangerous must have been about to happen and Sans knew it! It was to protect him! Truly the lord was ever selfless! But now he was dead and Papyrus was alone! Why? Why?! No-no! This all couldn’t be! But, Corn was wrong and Sans had come home. Papyrus had hugged him tightly and couldn’t stop his crying when he had come in through the door. Sans had shoved him away with a look of disgust. “ Go to bed!” he had roared and Papyrus shrunk back, hands bundling up in the carpet as he looked up to Sans from his backside on the floor. What? Why was Sans angry? 

Sans gave him a hardened, perplexed, wary look. “ God, what is. . .” he looked genuinely confused, “ wrong with you, dog? You’re so-” Sans had looked down to his hands in front of him. “ weak.” Papyrus had crawled away in shame and sat in his dark room while Sans got ready for bed in the hall. He was. . .weak? Sans had said so. It must be true. He was a. . .burden? That’s why Sans kept him home? That was probably why father left too. There was something wrong with him. He was a broken dog. He was no good to anybody.

7\. 12. 2. 6. Papyrus stopped being sad. 8. 5. 2. 9. Being sad didn’t change anything. 6. 3. 4. 11. He slowly began to feel dead. A deadness. He felt like he was no name. He realized that. He had killed himself that night instead of that Green, now he was a walking corpse and it was time to lay this thing rightfully in the ground. It was hard to eat. Harder to sleep. Hardest to bathe. Sans began to get on his case about how thin he was. About how his room was a disaster. About how he smelled ‘Like garbage that was vomited upon’! Papyrus hated the endeavors Sans began to take. 4. 2. 8. 6. Sans didn’t understand. They didn’t matter. 2. 10. 4. 7. Nothing did. 

 

The deep voice placed him down on the couch, “ There ya go, buddy. I’ll get some pie, cinnamon-butterscotch. Yum.” He gave a loud boisterous laugh for no particular reason that Papyrus could see. Corn sat staring at the red numbers. Asgore brought him a piece of pie. He placed it in his hands, Papyrus looked to it half-heartedly. The large goat man encouraged, “ Try some, I think it’s extra good today.” Papyrus just sat there and Asgore frowned. Papyrus was more out of it than usual. Asgore sat down, and leaned back, setting his hands in his lap. “ You know Chara was asking about you the other day.” Papyrus looked to the soft, squishable looking pie filling. It was brown with a dollop of light whipped cream on top. “ They must have been feeling quite BONELY huh, Papyrus?” Asgore winked and elbowed him in the ribs. Papyrus stared down to the pie. 

Asgore frowned, “ What happened, Papyrus?” he began gently. “ Sans called me on short-notice.” He leaned forward. “ He never does that unless something happens.” Papyrus let out a sigh, so frail and weak. He glanced to the large, older goat man with thick white fur and a golden trimmed beard and hair. He had on a loose purple sweater with a raw bottom and a few holes in the sleeves. 

“ he. . .” he began and then looked down the floor, “ he. . .cried.” Asgore paused, recognizing the ‘he’ was probably Sans and then asked considerately, “ Why did he cry?” Papyrus looked to the pie plate in his hands. He didn’t hold onto it. He just let it balance there. It was miracle it didn’t fall and splat on the floor. “ i told him to kill me. i . . .” he gave a weak sneer, “ no. . .i don’t know why i’m telling you, you don’t care.” he glanced to the older man with contempt, “ you are only here because Sans pays you.” Asgore gave a disgruntled huff and leaned back, closing his eyes. “ So you say.” 

“ so i’m wrong?” Papyrus prompted, a bit of bitterness in his tone. Asgore decided to keep him talking as long as he could. Maybe he could figure out the whole story. “ I did not say that.” 

“ but you implied it.” Papyrus bit out, staring down to this floor with distaste, “ how pathetic i am to confide in someone who has been paid to listen.” 

“ Dear, I’m hardly a therapist, I’m more like suicide-watch.” Asgore explained with a small smile, opening his eyes, “ Don’t give me too much credit.” Papyrus huffed and blushed, yeah. What am I thinking? he asked himself. Ugh, that’s embarrassing I thought for even a second Sans would ask another monster to listen to my FEELINGS, oh, i’m an idiot, of course he wouldn’t do something like that. Not in a million years. “ well then why do you always ask?” he complained, lowly and resentfully. Asgore smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, which Papyrus tensed at. Asgore was a pretty touchy person. Sans probably was the only other monster that regularly touched him and that was-.

A death grip on the arm, “ Get your fucking ASS IN THE SHOWER!” A brush along the neck vertebrae while Sans attached his collar. A boot on his pelvis as Sans stripped him of his shirt. “ If you just got into your running clothes YOURSELF, I wouldn’t have to see your disgusting body like this!” 

-not fun. “ I don’t know, I mean apparently I don’t care.” Asgore gave a loud laugh and Papyrus rolled his eye lights and looked away, wanting to pull his hands from underneath the plate and cross his arms. He would but. . .he frowned, it didn’t matter anyway. Although Sans would be PISSED if he found out he was responsible for a new stain on their carpet, though he could get pissed at just about anything so, it wasn’t exactly saying much. 

Such a temperamental nuisance, Corn thought with annoyance, why does he have to be so stubborn? Where was the harm in letting Corn fade away like it a springtime flower? Everything died. Why couldn’t it be now? Life was too hard to live. He would prefer to just get the inevitable over with. No more Wednesday jogs. No more bedtime routines. No more humiliation. No more depression. It seemed like a reasonable option to him. 

Asgore pat his shoulder, “ Eat, then maybe you can finish the story. It must have been eventful, Sans doesn’t seem like the waterworks type, heh,” Asgore smiled and continued, “ oh, not in the least. I don’t think I’ve even ever seen him smile! What does he smile at, Papyrus?” Papyrus stared dryly to the cheap metal fork on his plate. “ my misery.” he answered with a frown and Asgore shook his head ruefully, “ Son,” he said calmly, “ you know he loves you, right?” 

Papyrus stiffened, eye sockets widening, “ no! he doesn’t!” he barked fiercely and Asgore was taken back with the ferocity it was said. Papyrus hardly ever raised his voice above a quiet mumbling tone. “ he HATES me!” he spat, “ he told me last night!” Asgore frowned and stared at Papyrus apologetically, he didn’t mean to make the skeleton upset.

“ Ok. . .” he said uncertainly and then remembering what Papyrus had revealed, grew a taunting smirk, “ was that before or after he cried over you?” Papyrus stood, the pie slice fell to the floor. Stain and Sans be damned! “ during.” he answered with burning sockets, “ you don’t understand. Sans is a SADIST. he adores seeing me in pain. that’s the only reason he wants me alive. he enjoys using me as a plaything to take his aggression out on.” The pie had fallen off the plate and Asgore glanced to his squandered hard work with disapproval. He straightened up before leaning down and carefully picking up the pie piece and placing it back on the plate. “ Why do you believe that?” 

“ because he tortures me and gets off to it!” Papyrus exclaimed. He thought incredulously, excuse me?! Is that not fucking obvious, Mr.Dremmur?! Christ. 

Asgore lifted the plate into his lap and stared to the upset teen calmly, “ Really? He’s known you for 18 years and yet the only thing of value to him is your reactions when he ‘tortures’ you.” Papyrus frowned and was filled with a sadness. A rich, bubbling sadness. “ i’m not talking about this any longer.” he stated and turned to walk up the stairs. Asgore made an indigent expression, “ You can’t leave in the middle of a conversion! Sit and eat! I made this pie for you!” Papyrus ignored him as he hiked back up the stairs, he didn’t have the energy to trek all the way back to his room. 

He slid down the hall wall and huddled up tight by himself, hugging his legs. He set his chin on his legs and thought of Sans’ big blue tears that had slid down his skull in the darkness of his bedroom. Would Sans really have cried if he was just losing a plaything? No, he wouldn’t have. Papyrus knew somewhere inside that Sans saw him as more than that. There was something else there. Maybe it was affection? Nostalgia? Love? Heh, ok not that one. But maybe there was something. But whatever it was, it wasn’t enough. Not enough to make Papyrus want to stay. Nothing was. Sometimes you just had to let people go. Sometimes you had to release. 

He closed his eyes and took a breath, he hadn’t eaten since last night but he didn’t think he could force himself to stomach anything, especially not that sickeningly sweet pie Asgore made. He could not bear to eat it. Not when it was so sugary and sublime, not when it lied to your tongue and teeth and made them jittery with sweetness, made them jittery with happiness. Because with the whipped cream, you also had swallow down the harsh irony that everything in life, even this fabulist dessert, would eventually leave you, leave you with a bitter aftertaste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder, Corn is wrong. He's sad and confused right now but, small spoiler, he gets better. He realizes there IS a reason to live. If you are going through a hard time in your life right now and you feel like there is no hope, there is no way out, reach out to someone. Your friends, family, anyone you trust. You are not alone and you would be missed. If you need help, and you're in the US, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for help. You can do this! I believe in you!   
> (Sorry if this bummed anyone out lol.)


	16. Mistaken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for physical violence <3

“ No, you can either pay what you owe me or you can lose a few teeth!” The monster pressed themselves against the chain link fence as they inched away. Their beady eyes were wide with fright. They said, “ Ok, ok!” in a slightly gurgly voice. They moved their pincher like arms down to their torn pants’ pockets. They shuffled around and produced some g. They held it forth, quivering a bit, looking scared in front of the much larger monster. Papyrus snatched it and quickly counted the pieces, his sharp teeth grit together tightly. “ This isn't all you owe me!”

The migosp trembled and swore, “ I-I’m sorry.” their antenna perking down in fear. “ Th-that’s all I have right now.” Edge rolled his eyes brutally and snatched onto the metal fence with one hand. He kneed the small, washed out red, monster in the chest. Migosp had the wind knocked from him and he collapsed down to his knees with a choked cough. “ Pl-please, I’ll get you the money.” he pleaded, looking up to the skeleton with desperate eyes. Edge looked down at him with a lifted eye socket, “ Oh, really?” 

“ Y-yes!” the small monster promised, holding the gut Papyrus had struck. Papyrus grew a smirk and squatted down in front of the small creature. “ Heh, ok. I’m a reasonable man. But as a reasonable man, I need some insurance you’ll come through.” Some sweat appeared on Misgosp’s face. “ Wh-what kind of insurance?” Edge snickered and smirked maliciously, “ I’ll just hold onto something of yours until you get me the money, then you can have it back.” Migosp frowned, “ What do you want? I don’t have anything th-that valuable, I swear.” 

Edge, in a swiping motion, slammed his head down to the pavement, which the Misgosp gave a sharp, shocked cry at. Edge shoved a large hand, concealed in a shiny leather glove, into Misgosp’s mouth. Misgosp barely had time to scream as Papyrus grabbed one of his cylindrical teeth and tore it from his mouth. Blood poured from the wound instantly and now Misgosp really screamed. 

Papyrus stood up with a neutral expression, white cracked tooth in his hand. Misgosp mewled and gave another sob as blood dripped out and stained his mouth as he cussed, curling in on himself. Edge tossed the tooth up in the air and stated, “ I’ll be back next Friday. Have the money.” He gave a laugh and caught the tooth. “ Then you can have ‘this’ back!” he gestured the tooth tauntingly. Feeling satisfied that he had gotten the message across, he began to calmly but quickly walk away from the scene of the extortion. He hummed as he walked down the street, row housing lined the streets of Home, most of a dark aged purple color. The sidewalks were cracked and the buildings were seemingly moments from falling apart. Rich green ivy grew over graffitied walls and the red leaves of small, decorative trees blew over the sidewalks. 

Papyrus raised his scarlet torn scarf a bit to hide his cold teeth from the biting November breeze. He was walking back to his truck which he had parked a ways away from here, he didn’t exactly know where his little debtor would be hanging out, and he had to find Migosp before he could get what he owed him. He also had to catch him when he was away from the miserable little crowd he often hung around. He was fucking AGGRESSIVE around them, but on his own, he lost all his backbone. Edge didn’t have some intense hatred of the guy or anything but as a dealer, your reputation was the most important thing you possessed. If people thought you were a pushover, or an incompetent, that’s the way they’d treat you. You had to appear strong and cut-throat while also dependable. Monsters had to know you were the guy who could get them what they needed while also knowing you were the same monster that would beat them over the head with a rusty pipe if they double-crossed you. It was a fine line to walk but in Edge’s personal opinion, he was fantastic tightrope walker. 

He heard his phone ring. He stopped his stride, eyes widening. Not that Edge didn’t have a fantastically and endlessly full social schedule but he well. . .didn’t. Undyne hated calling, she usually texted and even then, it was only for business. Edge pulled out his new iPhone and read the contact name. ‘Bitchy idiot.’ was calling. He smiled and his soul beat a little faster. Sans! He answered, “ Hello?” deepening his voice a bit. 

“ what the FUCK, dude?!” Papyrus flinched at his brother’s volume, ok, he was pissed. I mean he was usually vaguely disgruntled but Edge could read his tone reasonably well. “ What?” he snapped in return, “ And don’t ‘dude’ me! You can call me Boss if you-”

“ i’ll call you fuckin’ ASSHOLE!” Edge’s eye socket twitched, what had got under his brother’s bones?! He’d been ignoring Edge’s calls for days and NOW, he called out of the blue to scream at him! What a great fuckin’ brother you are, Edge thought to himself indignantly. “ What’s your problem?!” he retorted loudly.

“ what’s my PROBLEM?! how about you sending me fuckin’ kinky shit and demandin’ i wear it! you’re such a FREAK i swear to god! i shoulda never let ya fuck me.” Edge’s eye sockets widened and he glanced down to the uneven sidewalk, he was glad Sans couldn’t see his face because it was genuinely hurt. Edge knew what he was talking about. The collar. He had thought it would be cute, not to mention hot, but he guessed Sans wasn’t as liking to the idea. “ i swear to God, Papyrus, you’re so gross.” It seemed Sans’ anger had decreased some for his volume was lower.

Edge glanced away to one of the buildings, feeling like he should strike back with an insult but none really coming to mind. Yeah, maybe he was a freak. I mean, he had fucked his brother. But by that logic, so was Sans. But Sans clearly regretted it, he-he just said it and he didn’t even want to talk about it before, just wanted to pretend it had never happened. But Papyrus didn’t. He had liked it. It had felt so. . .good. To feel Sans’ warmth clamped around his sex. To have Sans’ hands clawing at his back. To heard his older brother chanting his name over and over again and telling him how good he felt. Saying how good Papyrus MADE him feel. Guess I do have some issues, he thought to himself and didn’t really feel up to arguing. 

“ well. . .” Red sounded impatient, “ do ya got nothin’ to say for yourself? no pompous shit about how you’re ‘my master’ and i should graciously do whatever you say or be dealt some horrible punishment?!” Edge gave a sharp huff and hung up.

He stared down angrily at his phone as he pulled it down in front of his chest. He impulsively wanted to throw it into the street. It’s not like anyone important called him on it anyway. He started stalking down the street and wished Sans was right here so he could sock him and pin him down and fuck him! Sans certainly wasn’t complaining that night when was a moaning like a fucking slut. Nor was complaining when he jacked off in his room and moaned out ‘Boss’ over and over again. It’s not like Papyrus couldn’t hear him. Though it’s also not like Papyrus had hung out around his room very often. Or what about the way Sans’ eye sockets always lingered on his frame when they went swimming or Papyrus tore off his shirt on the court?! It wasn’t fair! It’s not like those things had never made Papyrus uncomfortable, but he was finally ready to give Sans what he had always desired! He was COOPERATING! Edge rarely cooperated with ANYONE! He thought Red should consider himself lucky! Didn’t he realize how much Edge wanted this?! How much Edge missed him?!

Edge sighed as he rounded the corner to where he had left his truck, his phone rang again from his back pocket of his leather pants. He ignored it. His eyes raised off the sidewalk and a shot of horror ran through him! Oh. . .fuck. . .NO! He ran forward, cutting across the empty, pothole littered street, to the side of his truck. Ah shit, shit!

“ Shit!” he cursed aloud. The side of his red truck’s metal was beat in. The window smashed. Pieces of glass crunched under his hefty leather boots. His face was bathed in despair as he observed his ride with sorrowful realization. Stepping to the hood, he saw both his headlights had been smashed in and someone had taken to the windshield with a bat, leaving hundreds of complex cracks that ran over the surface in the shape of lightning bolts. Across the hood, which had a few more dents, was messy purple spray paint that stated, ‘Thieves Get What’s Coming!’. 

Edge frowned and then feeling a spike of anger, kicked the front of his truck violently. Fuck! He was having the WORST day today! His boots were steel-tipped so his phalanges, toes, didn’t throb from the aggressive action. He stamped his foot and cussed loudly. Why wasn’t that stupid spider bitch content with sending a message?! Did she HAVE to hound him like this?! It simply wasn’t fair! He had already gotten assaulted by poisonous spiders, now she fucked up his ride too! It was just, about, 20 kilos of crack! What was her PROBLEM?! 

He looked around quickly to see if any one of Muffet’s monsters was still hanging around. The street was completely abandoned except for a old goat woman coming out of her house in a wide-brim hat and a purple and white dress. He sighed, looking back to his wrecked ride and went around the side. The other side had received a similar treatment and gazing down, he realized they had slashed his tires. “ Fuck.” he muttered, running a gloved hand over his stressed skull as he reached the back of the truck and leaned a hand against the bumper. He stood for a moment contemplating what to do. The phone in his pocket began to ring again. He felt his jaw began to quiver. A minute passed and Edge just stood there. Ah, fucking christ, today was just deplorable! Just-.

“ Oh my goodness, Papyrus?!” Edge looked up and saw the old goat monster he had seen leaving her house from down the street. She was tall, taller than he was by about a foot, though that wasn’t quite unusual for a goat monster. They were always very tall. She had kind brown eyes and thick, long eyelashes. Her small horns poked out of her wide brim purple hat and her dress fell shapelessly over what would have been a very shapely figure. Her wide eyes looked with concern from the trashed vehicle to Edge. “ Who did this? Are you alright?” she took a step forward and Edge recoiled, blinking quickly and trying to get a hold on his overactive emotions. 

“ I-I’m not Papyrus.” 

She looked concerned, blinking widely. She placed her hands on her hips and cocked a dark eyebrow, “ Then who are you?” Wait, Edge was confused. Was this the Toriel Sans knew? The one whose annoying kid had swung by the house the other day? It didn’t look like that old witch but maybe she had cleaned up or something? “ I mean I am, I just. . .you’re probably thinking of somebody else.” Edge thought of that idiot next door who he was always getting mistaken for. He supposed this lady could be thinking of Stretch too, but that case of mistaken identity happened less frequently. She took a step forward and Edge stiffened as she felt his scarf, he felt a desire to strike her hands away. “ But you even wear the red scarf. But-” she looked down to his face with concerned eyes, “ you have that scar. And your teeth, Papyrus dear-” Now Edge tore away, pulling his scarf with him. 

“ Yeah-yeah, I’m the bad one. Listen you’re thinking about that other idiot named Papyrus. He wears a red scarf and always that dorky grin and those stupid bright colors, always ranting and raving about ‘SPAGHETTI’ and ‘SANS’ and ‘PUZZLES’ and making that stupid little laugh that makes me want to tear his head off!” Edge kicked the ground violently, staring forward to the street, instead of the woman. “ So piss off, ok? I’m not him.” He glanced back to the woman who frowned, “ Well,” she pulled her purse close to herself, “ ok then. Have a good day.” She turned and began to wander down the street, Edge watched her a moment. His phone rang again. He pulled it out, looked to Sans’ calling icon, he swiped it out of the way and then unlocked it. He scrolled down his short contact list and selected, ‘. . .’.

It rung. It rung. Edge leaned an arm back on the truck and tapped his boot. It rung. It picked up.

“ Hello?” The voice was gruff and tenor. Deeper than Edge’s own. Higher than Red’s. “ Dad, hi, it’s Papyrus.”

“ Gathered that. Talk faster.” He frowned and his hand tightened on the back of the pickup box’s wall. “ I-I was wondering if you could pick me up.” 

“ . . .” A chuckle through the line. “ Cute, what did you get too drunk at a party?” Edge frowned. He could already tell the answer would be no. He-he didn’t know why he bothered calling. “ No, I. . .never mind. I’ll walk.” Gaster gave a calm huff, “ Have fun.”

Edge hung up and stared up to the Home sky of blue with gray creeping across its space. Its clouds slowly being tinted ashen. He decided he better get a move on.


	17. Party Hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! Sorry the chapter is a little bit late! I hope you enjoy it!

Stretch pulled up his phone and took a double glance at his appearance in the camera that was turned towards himself. His skull was shining white and he wore a spiffy flannel of orange and blue over a tight gray t-shirt that hung low and showed off his sternum. He grinned and then pulled his phone back down and slipped it into his tight khaki pockets. Perfect, he thought, as he looked forward to the large building nearing him. It was night. The loud music pounded through the windows and Stretch saw young monsters through the glass.They held red solo cups and were smiling eagerly, many laying hands over each other’s shoulders and laughing. Stretch walked swiftly along the sidewalk and passed in front of the picket white fence that stood a few feet from the gray bricks of the fraternity house. He skipped up the steps and knocked on the door, getting excited. Stretch loved to party. He loved to drink. He loved girls and loud music and the pounding atmosphere. Course, he didn’t discover this till he came to New Home, his brother had always been a stickler with alcohol and sex and everything else. Sans was sweet and well-meaning, but he was SWEET AND WELL-MEANING, Stretch sometimes felt he had no room to breath. Their entire household ate vegan.They had family ‘feeling’ meetings! There was no room for anything but perfect kind understanding. Stretch found he was much more comfortable in the chaos, smokin’, drinkin’, grindin’ on some girl you barely knew. It’s not like Sans nor dad could ever find out his habits, he was his own monster down here and he was damn well going to act like it. 

The door swung inward and Stretch grinned down at his friend. Pyrope was about five foot one and consisted of two large, golden shoes and then a thick coiling of black, striped yellow, rope. Stretch was heated by the heat of the monster’s head, a burning fire with a smiling black sphere in the flame. 

“ sup, Ropey.” he greeted with a wink, he was filled with the smell of burnt rope. Pyrope giggled, his flames crackling. “ Stretch is here!” he called, leaning back to call inside. There were some hoots. Stretch chuckled and stepped in. “ thanks for the invite.” he offered, “ i was glad to hear i got to attend one of your HOT parties.” Pyrope chuckled again and replied neutrally, “ No problem, but invites kinda got thrown out the window.” 

“ whatcha mean?” Stretch asked and saw Migosp go and close the door, he must have opened it for Rope as well. When New Home University started letting humans attend, as a result of the integration policies of 215X, many of the buildings were remodeled to better accommodate them. Ironically, they were so well adapted, some of them were now INEFFICIENT for the beings that were originally supposed to live in them. 

Rope turned with him as they walked in and answered, “ Ah, we got some crashers. I don’t really mind though, heh, they’re quite the partiers.” Stretch chuckled and started towards the kitchen, “ well, as long as they aren’t bothering anybody.”

“ Your bro’s here.” Rope stated and Stretch paused with a confused look on his face. “ He’s done the keg and everything. Thought you said he was a mild guy.” Stretch gave a look of confusion as Pyrope chuckled, glancing forward, “ He’s as funny as you are.” They entered into a living room with black couches and dark carpeting, the walls were eggshell and the floor was littered with half-crushed drink cups and unused condoms. The lights were dimmed and monsters all had beers or cups in hand. There were a few clusters of monsters in the room, some whimsun and whimsalot talked in the corner and a small cluster of humans hung out on the couch. They wore expensive clothing and glanced over Stretch and Pyrope as they walked in with interested whispers. Humans sometimes partied with monsters at New Home but monsters didn’t party with humans, if that made any sense. Basically Stretch remembered Eyewalker telling him if he showed up to a human party, he’d get roughed up and thrown out, in the best of circumstances. Loox was kinda a jaded guy but he was also older than Stretch so Stretch trusted he knew how things worked around here, at least a little better than he did. 

Stretch’s eyes sockets widened as he spotted Red, Red from down the street, the most anti-social, asshole-ish prick Stretch had ever met. He was surrounded by monsters who stared at him with wide eyes and delighted smiles. “ Red?” he asked with curiousness and some excited party goer passed by and slipped a cup of who knows what into Stretch’s hand. The short skeleton sitting on the couch and his entourage, gathering close around him, glanced to Stretch. Red sneered and leaned forward clumsily, some of the tan alcohol in red cup splashing down the side of the cup. 

“ w-well, well, it’s Weedbag, everybody.” The monsters around Red blinked widely, staring to Stretch, and he cringed at the attention because it was accompanied a nasty name. “ uh, Stretch actually. thanks, Red.” Red’s group of monsters turned back to him, a vulkin with sharp teeth, asked excitedly, “ Who’s that, Red?” There were some whispers from the crowd, who glanced to Stretch with amused whispers. “ Is that his brother?” Some snickers. “ Oh my god.” Stretch flushed and explained quickly, stepping closer to the group, “ n-no, we’re not related, t-tell ‘um, Red.” Red downed some more alcohol and some dripped down his chin and stained his red t-shirt. He leaned back deeply into the couch. 

“ we’re not r-related, i-i would never be related to someone as pathetic as Stretch.” Stretch stiffened with anger and while he would like to blame it on the alcohol, Red would probably say the same thing if sober. Red was an unbelievable jerk. Some snickered and an Astigmatism asked, “ How do you know him, Red?” in a low, rumbling, but clearly bemused voice. 

“ he’s just some faggot who used to live on the same street as me.” Red stated bluntly and Stretch was shocked, he stated quickly, “ n-not gay.” 

Red flipped him off and stated, “ please, you’d probably pounce on my dick right now if i summoned it up.” Stretch blushed heavily at the group’s laughter and then spat, “ whatever, you fuckin’ loser! you’re the worst.” He turned to walk away, raising the cup of liquor to his teeth to hopefully calm him. He had only been here for three minutes and his mood was already ruined! Why the hell was Red even here?! Red never did anything! And to think I asked him for help to find that Sans guy! Stretch thought with anger, not ANYMORE! I’ll do it myself!

“ where you goin’, BONEHEAD?!” Red sneered from behind him, the Sans leaning forward on his seat again. His posse laughed and Red grinned, “ ya like that? huh?” Stretch just kept walking, a perturbed expression on his skull, as Red yelled to his back, “ TIBIA honest, Stretch, you’re just a coward! got no BACKBONE! no SPINE!” Stretch grit his teeth and didn’t fall for it. 

Stretch hung in the dining room, leaning up against a white wall, a picture of some dean to the left of his skull. Loox had found him and they had played a game of beer pong, they had lost and now Stretch was thoroughly intoxicated. He didn’t mind it. Made everything funnier. “ Dude,” Loox complained, pointing to Stretch’s pocket, “ your fuckin’ phone buzzed. Who is it?” Loox was pretty drunk too, wearing jeans and a gray button down over his green skin. “ doooonnn’tttt know.” 

“ Look.” Loox grunted and Stretch swayed a little as he tried to pull it out with some effort, more than usual. “ it’s stuck.” he complained and Eyewalker stated, “ Let me, fuckin’ idiot.” he reached into the tight pants’ pocket and grabbed it before pulling it out. Loox glanced to the lock screen with the message and then asked, “ Who’s ‘My Magnificent Big Brother’?” with a look of animated confusion. Stretch groaned, too drunk to be embarrassed and plucked his iPhone uncarefully out of Eyewalker’s hand. “ my older brother.” Stretch glanced to the screen and struggled to read the fine print. 

The message read: ‘ PAPPY! IT’S SANS! BUT MWEH! I GUESS YOU KNEW THAT!’ Sans sent texts in all caps, Stretch had no idea why. ‘ I WANTED TO WISH YOU A GOODNIGHT! I’M HAVING A SLEEPOVER WITH PAP-PAP TONIGHT AND HE’S ASLEEP NOW. I’VE BEEN DOING RESEARCH INTO THAT MARIJUANA STUFF YOU’VE BEEN DOING AND I SEVERELY DISAPPROVE! THAT STUFF IS NOT SAFE FOR MY LITTLE BROTHER! WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT TOMORROW, IF YOU HAVE TIME I MEAN. . . .MWEH, I MISS YOU A LOT. I LOVE YOU. SWEET DREAMS, THOUGH YOU’RE PROBABLY LONG ASLEEP. . . I THINK ABOUT YOU ALL THE TIME. I-I-SOMETIMES I JUST SIT IN YOUR ROOM, IS THAT CREEPY? I HAD FUN WITH PAP-PAP TONIGHT BUT HE LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE YOU IT’S KIND OF PAINFUL, I JUST WANT MY LITTLE BROTHER! MY PAPYRUS! YOU! I JUST- YOU’RE SO AMAZING AND COOL AND I WANT TO BE THE VERY BEST I CAN BE FOR YOU! I-I. . .I KNOW I’M NOT GOOD AT MOST THINGS, I KNOW THAT, JUST FAILED ANOTHER PAPER, PROFESSOR SAID I ‘MISSED THE POINT OF THE ASSIGNMENT’, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M GOING TO DO. I ASKED HER FOR EXTRA CREDIT, SHE SAID THEY DON’T DO THAT FOR SOME REASON! I-I HAVE NO IDEA WHY! I MEAN HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET REALLY GOOD GRADES WITHOUT IT?! I-I I’LL JUST HAVE TO TRAIN HARDER! STUDY HARDER! I MEAN HOW AM I GOING TO PROVIDE FOR YOU WHEN WE’RE OLDER WITHOUT A GOOD JOB! MAYBE I SHOULD FOCUS ON BECOMING A POLICE OFFICER LIKE PAP-PAP IS, THAT WAS MY DREAM! STILL IS BUT I. . .JUST. . .MISS YOU. MORE THAN I’VE EVER MISSED ANYONE. THOUGH I’M ABOUT TO DELETE MOST OF THIS, AS I ALWAYS DO, I WANTED TO TELL YOU, YOU’RE AMAZING AND I MISS YOU AND I LOVE YOU.’ This insanely long message was followed by a zillion heart emojis of rainbow colors. Stretch stared at the screen incoherently. 

“ Dude, what it say? You real drunk? You been reading that shit forever.” Loox complained, glancing up to his much taller friend. Stretch rubbed at one of his eyes, “ how many drinks did i have tonight?” he asked in confusion as another text came in. ‘ MYEH!!!!!!!!! UUUUUHHHHH, D-DON’T READ THAT LAST TEXT I SENT PAPPY! UHHHHH, IT-IT WAS JUST A RAMBLING OF HOW I HATE PUNS! M-MWEH HEH HEH, YOU KNOW I HATE PUNS! I’M TRUSTING YOU NOT TO, DON’T! THANKS!’

Loox shrugged, “ don’t know, got any cigs, dude?” Stretch, unabsorbing of the messages, began to fumble around in his pockets, shoving his long bony fingers down inside, “ they stuck.” he complained and Look groaned and went to reach into his pockets. Stretch shuddered as the warm hand slid down the back of his pelvis in Eyewalker’s groping. Loox took them out and Stretch thought of Red’s comment earlier of how he’d pounce on a dick if he saw one. Never his, Stretch thought hazily, wouldn’t suck him off if the antidote for my poisoned self was his cum. “ i’m not gay, right?” he asked aloud and Loox hushed him suddenly, “Shh!”

 

“ what?” Stretch asked with annoyance. Loox elbowed him in the ribs as he pointed over to a monster girl across the room. 

The monster girl was a plump, full-figured cat woman of rich purple fur. She wore short overalls of a dark blue that hung low showing off a lot of cleavage, the bottoms of her overalls were shorty shorts. Her cat ears were pierced to the brim with golden and silver studs and loops. Her yellow cat eyes had rich eyelashes of black and her hair was short and sable, swept over her brow, light blue dip-dyed at the ends. When Stretch caught her eyes, she glanced away shyly and giggled to her friend, a tall alligator woman with blond hair. Stretch was instantly attracted to her. 

“ wh-what about her?” his drunk ass mumbled, glancing down to his friend. “ She was checking you out!” Loox hissed, looking up to him with an excited grin, “ Go make a move!” Stretch chuckled and rolled his eyes, glancing away and rubbing behind his neck, “ man, i don’t know, i’m so wasted right now.” 

“ Just go!” Loox exclaimed and gave him a harsh push forward, Stretch tripped a step with shocked sockets before catching himself. He looked to the girl who giggled and he gave a hopeful smile, she seemed nice. He wandered forward, trying to collect himself. 

“ h-hey ladies,” he greeted and they looked to each other knowingly, his drunk fearlessness took over and he extended a hand to the cat monster, “ may i steal you for a bit, madame?” She chuckled and took his larger hand, “ Well, like I GUESS.” She grinned and he chuckled. 

They were in somebody's room, Stretch had no idea whose. All he knew was a pretty girl with big as fuck boobs currently had a hand his pants. He groaned and she chuckled, “ Does it feel THAT good?” He leaned his head back and his hands fisted into someone’s tan blankets. “ y-yes,” he replied, her hand gave his pulsing shaft another fast stroke, he moaned into his teeth. She was kneeling on the ground and went to unzip his tight pants, there was a large, glowing orange bulge by his crotch. She unzipped them and tugged down the cotton gray boxer briefs he was wearing. His long orange cock sprung free. She rubbed over the head, a sly smirk on her face and Stretch whined. 

“ Wait, Stretch,” she stated, looking up with big eyes, “ before we go any further, c-can you tell me some stuff about you? I-I-” she blushed and brushed some hair from her eyes, “ I don’t know anything about you.” Stretch made an expression of discomfort, her hand was still on his throbbing dick; he couldn’t think about sensitive shit right now! She just needed to SLAM THIS COCK DOWN HER THROAT!

“ Mmmhmm.” he replied through stained teeth and a pained expression, whatever would make her happy enough to suck him off. 

 

“ Thanks! Where do you live, outside of campus I mean?” 

“ Snowdin.”

“ Where in Snowdin?” She gave the shaft a sudden stroke and not expecting it, Stretch gave a loud moan, he blushed brightly as she looked up to him with fluttering lashes. He brought a hand to cover his traitorous mouth and mumbled, “ S-Snowpoff Street.” 

“ That’s so cool! Your brother like live there?” 

“ y-yes.” She gave it another pump and Stretch shuddered, oh FUCK, this was torture. “ House number?” 

Ok, that one was a little weird, even to an aroused, drunk Stretch, “ wh-why do you want to know?” he asked, glancing down to her with uncertainty. She licked up the orange shaft lewdly and Stretch’s legs started to tremble.” 5-563.” 

She grinned and stood up abruptly, “ Thanks, cutie.” He blinked widely in confusion and lowered his hand down. Wh-what? She turned to go with a wave, “ Like, later and stuff!” Wa-wait what?!

“ y-you’re leavin’?” Stretch asked and as she threw the door open, Stretch cringed and quickly went to pull up his pants, “ b-babe?” He scrambled up and stumbled a step due to his wasted and shocked state. He made his way to the door and glanced out. Some monsters stood in the hall and some looked to him and waved. His skull throbbed as Catty was nowhere in sight. He leaned back inside the door and cursed himself. He looked down to his clear erection through his pants with deep embarrassment. This had officially been the worse party he had ever been to.

 

“ yo, man,” Someone shoved his shoulder, “ yo, weedbag, weedbag,” a slap smacked his face. Stretch felt a slight sting. He peeled his eye sockets open, he saw a bleeding white ceiling and his head hurt like mother theresa passing a kidney stone. He glanced over and saw Red, looking like he had been through actual hell and back standing beside the couch. His red shirt was covered in stains of beer and food and something else that looked a little more disgusting. His black jacket was disheveled as if he had just thrown it on. His eyes looked heavy and he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else, grin twitching most unhappily. 

“ get up, they cleanin’, gotta go.” Stretch sat up slowly and blinked, his head throbbing badly. He was on one of the leather couches, in the living room of the frat house. A few monsters wandered around with black trash bags, throwing the massive amounts of garbage they found inside. Stretch got up slowly and Red started off to the door, Stretch passively followed him, not remembering the rest of the party after being abandoned by Catty, he had hoped it had been more fun than the parts he DID remember. He rubbed at his foreskull tiredly, feeling as if he could sleep till he turned to a pile of ashen dust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior! If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out! It would help me out a lot! Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	18. Head On!

Blue sighed, holding a cup of non decaf tea filled with plenty of sugar and honey. He nursed the mug carefully, sitting at the simple wooden island in his kitchen. Papyrus, Classic, looked over his shoulder with a smile, “ Why the long face, Blueberry?” He was at the stove, hand currently on the handle of a pan that was burning pancakes with haste. 

Blue faked a small smile as Pap-pap exclaimed, “ Smell the MORNING!” Papyrus gave a powerful, loud inhale, placing his hands on his jean shorts’ hips. “ The smoke of my AMAZINGLY cooked pancakes! The adventure of a new day! All the possibilities to be had!” 

Blue giggled softly, “ Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Papyrus looked to him, lowering down his hands as Blue’s sockets went and rested with disappointment in the tea of his cup. Pap-pap frowned and wandered over, crossing his arms over the top of the wooden table, coming up on the side of the island beside Blue. “ Is anything wrong?” he asked with concerned eyes. Blue looked up to him with a small frown. 

“ Well, no, not really, I mean. . .” 

“ You can tell me anything!” Papyrus encouraged with a warm smile. Smoke billowed out of the pan on the Swaps’ stovetop. Blue rubbed his hands around the warm edges of his mug and explained, “ Well, last night I kinda. . .accidently sent a. . .sorta KINDA REALLY EMBARRASSING TEXT TO PAPPY AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT HE’LL SAY OR DO ABOUT IT AND I ASKED HIM NOT TO READ IT AND-AND-AH!” Blue brought hands up to hide his face, blushing blue. “ HE’S GOING TO THINK I’M SO WEIRD!” 

Papyrus was bathed in empathy, he rested a hand on Blue’s shoulder, “ Oh, Blue, Stretch would never think you’re weird. He loves you!” 

Blue pulled his hands down from his face and exclaimed with urgency, “ I KNOW! B-but. . .” Blue crossed his arms over his chest, “ I-I just worry sometimes that he doesn’t want to be around me.” 

“ What?!” Pap exclaimed in surprise, “ No way! Don’t you talk like that, Blueberry, your brother loves you VERY MUCH! Of course he wants to be around you!” The kitchen began to smell thickly of smoke.

“ W-well then why was he acting so weird during break?! Why is he HIDING stuff from me?! Why is he doing DRUGS a-and-” 

“ DRUGS?!” Papyrus responded with horror and Blue felt some tears form in his sockets, he leaned over the counter and wrapped Papyrus in a hug, “ I-I just don’t know what to do!” Papyrus’ soul was full of worry and a desire to comfort as he wrapped Blue in a hug in return. Blue sniffled as Pap moved around the edge of the island to tighten the hug. 

“. . .Hey now,” Pap-pap began after a few moments, a sharp beeping now filled the room. Blue looked up at Pap with wide eyes, “ whatever is happening with Stretch, we’ll work it out together, you’re not alone, ok?” Blue nodded, wiping at a few of his tears. A smile so gentle and strong it could have been off superman’s face itself adorned Papyrus’ skull. “ Stretch is a smart, capable young man who I know adores you, Blue. I know for a fact that his love for you won’t change over a text or over anything else. Relationships have challenges in them, but that’s what makes them STRONGER!” Blue smiled half-way as Papyrus finished, “ I know everything is going to be ok.” A fire on the stove had erupted forth from the pan, lighting the background between them. 

Blue gave a light cough at the smoke, “ That is. . .” He stared at Papyrus, who had begun to sweat because of the heat in the room, “ so beautiful, Pap-pap. Thank you.” Papyrus nodded, grinning, “ It is the Great Papyrus’ pleasure and honor!” 

Someone ran into the room in a blur, holding something red and white in their hand, a strong whizzing sound took the room, something neither Blue nor Pap let take their attention to for the moment. A fast, voluminous spraying of white foam coated the entire stove in fast, sweeping motions, spreading onto the counters and the walls. Then once the fire had been decimated, the figure went over and flicked on the kitchen fan switch and began to pull open the kitchen windows to let the smoke out.

Now the two skeletons looked over at the figure. “ Good morning daddy!” Blue chirped and Swap Gaster gave a smile, though looked beat, wearing a long robe of blue fuzz with smiling sunflowers on it, he wore bright orange slippers with puffballs of white on the tips. 

“ Good morning, Mr.Swap!” Papyrus greeted with a wide smile. Swap Gaster gave a small cough, waving some of the now dissipating smoke with one of his holed white hands away. He smiled, “ Morning, boys, I see you’ve both been cooking. . .again.” 

“ Yes!” Pap-pap exclaimed, “ Me and Blue have been working on some new recipes!” Swap Gaster gave a bemused smile, these two. “ Well, alright, I’m sure they’re lovely, but you shouldn’t let a fire start in the kitchen, I’ve told you it’s dangerous.” 

Papyrus and Blue both frowned and they let their hands fall back to themselves, “ But dad,” Blue complained, reaching down and pulling out his own fire extinguisher, “ We were ready!” 

“ Yeah, we were just going to let them get a bit blacker!” Pap added, “ Captain Undyne says that’s how you get the outside crisp!” 

Swap Gaster sighed and wandered over to the stove, now covered in potassium bicarbonate foam, “ Well, maybe wake me up so I can help next time?” He looked over his shoulder and Papyrus was about to agree ‘Sure thing!’ when Blue objected, “ But you were tired! I wanted to let you sleep! You never take care of yourself, dad!” with a pouting expression. It was true Gaster hadn’t been home till far after Blue and Pap-pap ad fallen asleep last night. Gaster frowned and turned around, “ I do too, I’m just looking out for your safety, alright?” 

Blue frowned at him a moment but then Papyrus gave him a gentle pat on the back, “ Come on, Blue, it’s your dad’s house, we have to respect his wishes.” Blue sighed heavily and conceded, “ Fine. But you actually have to take a shower today! You stink!” pointing at his father accusingly. If he wasn't going to get at least eight healthy hours, he could at least do the world a favor and take a ten minute shower! 

Gaster smirked and came up to the island, crossing his arms over the counter and leaning on them. “ I prefer to think of it as a natural musk.” Gaster replied and Blue gagged in jest, Papyrus giggled. Classic Papyrus then wandered over to the stove and found all their pancakes really were ruined, even the ones Pap had set on a plate a few feet from the stove had been coated in the fire extinguishers’ foam. “ Whelp!” he turned around to Blue, Gaster looked to him calmly. “ Looks like we’ll need to make some more pancakes!” 

Blue hopped off his plush stool happily, wandering over to the cupboard with the vegan pancake mix, he opened it up and frowned, “ Aw!” He pulled it out and showed off the empty plastic container with nothing but a few flecks of vegan white powder at the bottom, “ We’re out!” 

“ Oh no!” Papyrus exclaimed in distress and Gaster smiled a calm smile, “ It’s no problem, you two can run over to Blooks’ Botanical Market and pick some more up.” He chuckled internally, silly boys. 

Blue and Pap made excited eye-contact. “ Yay!” they both exclaimed at the same time, “ Great idea, dad!” Blue chimed. Gaster chuckled warmly, “ No problem, happy to help.” 

Blue and Pap began to scramble around, cleaning up their previous mess as Gaster brewed himself some morning caffeinated tea. Then Blue grabbed his car keys from the hook and invited, “ Want to come with, dad?” Gaster, now sitting at the table, declined politely, “ No thanks.” His eyes darted to the clock, “ Wingdings wanted me to come in at one, and if I start painting in five or ten minutes, I can fit in four and a half hours of painting before going in.” Gaster smiled at the clock, almost smugly; confident in his estimation. 

Blue grinned and said, “ Only four hours, daddy.” Gaster looked over with a cocked eye and Blue reminded, “ Shower, dad.” Gaster frowned poutingly, taking a sip of tea, and Blue giggled, “ Mweh heh! Bye, dad! Love you!” 

“ Love you too!” Gaster called as Blue and Papyrus headed out. 

They popped into Blue’s electric blue, shiningly clean, Hyundai Elantra and Papyrus clapped his hands together in excitement. “ You think we can pick up some of that natural coconut smelling carpet stain-remover?! With how messy Sans is, I run out of that stuff as quickly as I buy it!” he commented expressively, “ I can just use the normal non-smelling kind, but then smelling the carpet becomes pointless!” Blue chuckled, moving out of the driveway, “ Course! We can get whatever we want!” 

As the two playful skeletons pulled out of the street, a car with the lights off pulled out carefully behind them. 

By the time, they had pulled into Blooks’ parking lot, Blue felt as if he had spilt his entire soul to Pap-pap! He. . .he felt a little guilty while he explained with distress how he had found Stretch’s. . .he couldn’t even say it, his. . .marijuana drug-intake device and the following conversation he had had with his brother. After all he had promised Pappy he’d keep it a Special Brother Secret with him. He knew Stretch took those secrets very seriously. But, he couldn’t help it, he was so worried! Pappy wasn’t here and Blue just felt so helpless. Plus technically, Stretch had just wanted him not to tell dad, right? Maybe this was excusable. 

“ I mean I just don’t understand why he would be doing that!” Blue exclaimed as he shifted the car into park and glanced out his side-view mirrors to make sure he was fully inside the parking spot's lines. Papyrus gave a thoughtful frown and exclaimed, “ Maybe he misses you so much he needs to fill the void with something!” 

Blue looked to his friend with distress, “ Then why not call me more or text more instead!” That was no reason to turn to DRUGS! “ Or just-!” Blue cut himself off, eyes returning to the steering wheel, he had almost said it. He tried to never say it, but he thought it sometimes, why not. . .his eyes looked tender and his frown noticeable, why not then just. . .just come home.

“ I don’t know, maybe he’s shy and doesn’t want to bother you!” Pap offered and Blue groaned in his chair.

“ But if missing me is the problem than why was he so. . .weird last break?!” Blue had been so SO excited for Stretch coming back for Thanksgiving, the three month period of him away had seemed to stretch(no pun intended) on for millennia! He had planned all types of fun activities, lists and lists full of exciting stuff to do with his favorite brother in the whole world! They were going to camp out in the same room under a blanket fort and read each other stories and play action fighters and snuggle until SUPER LATE, like at least 10:30! And-and they were going to ride their bikes around the neighborhood and work on puzzles together! He was going to help Stretch on the crossword and Pappy had to help HIM on the junior jumble! They were going to go go-cart racing and stop for ice cream, and he was sure his lazy brother would drag him to Muffet’s at least once and they'd have more fun and memories than Blue could count! Until he left. . .again. 

B-but Blue was ready to ignore that for a week full of adventure and merriment with the monster he cared about most! . . .But Pappy apparently hadn't had the same plan. H-he looked the same for the most part, Blue noticed he was showering more and wearing some unrecognizable cologne, but his clothes and shoes were still the same. He told the same bad puns and tried to skip chores as he always did but, h-he had said he should probably sleep in his own room. Blue had frowned as Stretch explained, “ we're grown up now, bro, ya know? we both need our space. i’m sorry, i-i hope that doesn't disappoint ya.” Blue had tried to smile, still holding the storybook in his hands tightly, now kind of wanting to hide it behind his back, “ R-right! Of course it doesn't disappoint me! I'm fine!” Stretch had smiled, “ alright, heh, cool.” And while Blue did drag Stretch to a few of the events on his long, scrolling list, Pap declined more than a minority, “ man, wish i could, but Classic and me are goin’ catch a movie tonight.”

“ sorry, i’m meetin’ up with friends.” 

“ tonight? Sans, i. . .i have plans.” 

Pappy NEVER had had so many plans before. Blue didn't have a problem with him going to hang out with friends but-. . .he felt snubbed. He felt. . .he had held the storybook to his chest under the dark blanket fort sniffling softly, he felt SAD. 

“ Hmmm,” Classic Papyrus put a red-gloved hand to his mandible, thinking hard in the passenger seat of Blue’s car. “ maybe h-he didn't want you to think he was being clingy!” Pap-Pap suggested innocently. Blue frowned at him and looked out his window bitterly, “ I doubt that was the case.” he muttered and then opened up his door. “ Let’s just go in! Pappy’s drama is making my head hurt!” Pap-Pap giggled as he got out as well, “ I know right! Why does your brother have to be so dramatic?!” Blue chuckled back as he beeped the car shut. That was a question for the art gods his father talked about, for he certainly had NO idea. 

Blooks’ Botanical Market was bigger than Classic Sans had thought it would be. It has at least fifteen aisles full of everything from organic shampoo and body products to gluten-free bars and freshly picked kale from nearby farms. Looking at all the vegetables with wary, Sans’ diet consisted of mostly potato chips and microwavable hot dogs, Sans feared he had never been in a more health-inclined place in all his life. The shop was technically within the Waterfall territory, but was close enough on the edge of Snowden that it wasn't too bad of a drive. To his brother, it was probably nothing, considering he drove to the heart of Waterfall every time he had class. The shop was modern in design but had old-fashioned murals of farm land painted on the walls. Sans hung out by the cleaning products section of the store, feeling and looking nervous, as if he feared someone jumping out from behind a bag of organic flaxseed and shouting ‘boo!’. 

He wore a oversized black coat he had dug out of his father’s closet and then under his normal eggshell t-shirt and lazily rumpled gym shorts. He peered his skull over the side of a display case, narrowing his sockets on his targets.

His brother and. . .Blue were perusing some newly imported brand of noodles from Japan, now made with yam. Papyrus was enthusing wildly about ‘YAM SPAGHETTI’ but Classic couldn't tell that from this distance. He saw them smiling and Blue laughing and as Blue went to put a box of something back, Papyrus seemed to ask for it. Then his taller brother popped it back on a higher shelf and Blue clapped his hands happily. Classic stared with one of his sockets beginning to twitch. W-was that couple behavior? Papyrus could just be being nice, right? That was probably all it was. No need for any jumps to any conclusions. His dad was a WEIRDO for thinking they were together, no way! No how! He continued to spy intently as someone bumped into his shoulder.

“ Hey watch it, loser! You're in the way.” Classic, froze, and then looked in shock to the voice. No way! 

Edge, the EDGE, the IM GONNA WHIP OUT MY GUN IN FRONT OF A POLICE STATION Edge, stood reaching his hand up for a bottle of carpet cleaner. His sharp teeth stuck in a harsh scowl, scar blunt over his right eye socket, eye lights bright and lean, he looked pretty much the same since the last time Sans had seen him. 

“ Edge?” Classic couldn't help but ask in shock. Edge looked down with annoyance and then his sockets widened slightly, expression becoming more neutral as he replied, “ You. Scaredy cat!” A more natural looking smirk grew over his neighbor’s features. “ What are you doing here?” 

“ what about you?!” Classic hissed, throwing his hands out in distress, “ i thought you’d be at home, i don't know, healin’ from a thousand spider bites!” Edge chuckled confidently, placing the coconut-scented cleaner back where he had picked it up from on the shelf.

“ Ha! As if a few measly spider bites can hinder me, the GREAT AND TERRIBLE-” 

“ shhh!” Classic cut off Edge’s mantra, a short pointer finger pressed urgently to his teeth. “ quiet, man!” Edge scowled at him, hating to be interrupted. “ Why?” he asked stubbornly. “ because! uh,” Classic quieted, trying to figure out how to word what he was doing and not make it sound. . .creepy, weird, he didn't really know. His eyes darted over to his targets to make sure they hadn't scampered off out of sight during his small, unplanned discussion with Edge. They were still there, moved a few yards down now, now musing about the different brands of vegan pancake mix. 

Edge leaned forward to see what Classic was looking at noisily, Classic looked back to find Edge’s chest right up in front of him, neat black cotton tank top under a thick leather jacket with studding on the shoulders. A torn red-scarf reminiscent of his own brother’s outerwear atop, Classic shoved him back lightly, but not before Edge had spotted Classic’s idiot brother and that Blue geek. 

“ hey personal space, ma-” Classic started to complain when Edge cut him off, “ You’re spying on your dork of a brother.” Classic stiffened and replied, “ he's not a dork.” crossing his arms over his chest, refusing to address the spying part. Edge wore a shit-eating grin and put a hand on his hip, pulling back.

“ Why?” he asked mischievously, “ You think he's up to trouble?” Classic Sans scowled and said, “ no, he's not a delinquent like you, Edge. my bro’s a good kid, that's why i tell you to stay away from him.” Edge shrugged, “ Whatever. ‘Good Kid’ ‘Boring Schluck’, same thing.” Classic felt his eye lights vanish, he took a step forward and Edge didn't move. 

“ DON’T talk about my brother like that!” Classic spat angrily, “ jeez, don't even look at him if you’re goin’ be like that! don't even THINK about him, he's MINE and if you even think about hurtin’ him, i’ll-”

“ ‘Mine’? Woah. I didn't know you two were THAT gay. Though I suppose with how flamboyant he is, I should have guessed.” Edge smirked, beyond amused, as Classic’s eye lights reemerged from the darkness of his sockets and he stepped back. The comment took him off guard, both Edge’s and the one from himself. ‘Mine’? he thought to himself, staring at Edge stupidly for a moment. Why did I say that? He-he's MY brother, I shoulda just said he was MY BRO, n-not, not ‘mine’ o-or whatever that means.

“ I mean no judgement, there's nothing wrong with being gay, I’m not a monster.” Edge put a hand to his chest and smiled, “ Gay men can be strong, successful, dominant, dangerous, just like any other man.” Edge looked Classic up and down and continued, “ I just didn't know you were into it.” 

Classic slowly was pulled back to the moment, “ uh, well, i-i. . .” Well, I mean, this wasn't about Pap or anything, right? “ i mean i’m bi. i don't know about Pap, but whatever he is, it's-” Classic looked down to the floor and put his hands in his pockets, “ it’s none of your business.” He frowned and Edge asked, “ Oh, why the long face?” internally snickering. “ I upset you?” 

Classic brought a hand up to rub over his face, hopefully to wake him up from his slowly moving thoughts, “ no! no! i’m fine, Edge, i-” His eyes looked to Blue and Pap again, who wandered out of sight around a corner. I should have never followed them here. If Pap is dating Blue, he thought, I should be happy for him. Not overprotective or jealous or. . .whatever I am. Blue is a sweet guy, works hard, plays harder, i bet him and Pap would make a great couple. He'd be way better than me as a partner, at least he has life plans and a car and is going to college, I don't even know what I’m going to eat for breakfast tomorrow, or tonight for that matter, probably whatever dad or Pap cooks, cause I’m lazy and I. . .don't cook. But none of that even matters, cause my weird brother complex has really gotten go, it's creepy. M-maybe following them here was a too far.

“ . . .I WHAT?” Edge asked impatiently. Classic had trailed off abruptly. Like he was having a God-forsaken internal monologue! “ You’re as in your head as my idiot brother! Just spit out what you mean!” Edge demanded, surprising Classic with his fervor, “ And don't yell it like a pregnant woman on her period and not even give the other monster a chance to explain themselves!” Edge added passionately, “ Maybe they had a good reason or they were excited about it! You don't have to be such a fucking douche, just like you always are, because you only think about YOURSELF YOURSELF YOURSELF! Maybe you should be grateful somebody bought something for you, that he picked out something for you, FOR you!” Edge slammed his fist into the wooden aisle shelf and Classic blinked at him widely.

“ uh, are we still talkin’ about me?” Edge huffed, “ Never mind, I’m not interested in your petty problems anymore. Stalk all you like.” Edge grabbed the cleaner off the shelf as he walked past him, “ Just know,” Edge glanced over his shoulder as he said in farewell, “ real monsters face what they want head on.” He turned then and walked away, Classic frowned slightly as he watched him leave. He looked back up to the shelf Edge had pulled the cleaner off of and thought ‘Coconut scented’? He didn't know Edge was into things so. . .bougie.

He stared off to where Blue and Pap had disappeared after a moment and thought, head on, huh? He-he supposed he could just ask. He knew he could. Just directly ask Papyrus if him and Blue were in a relationship. But that was the problem, if he asked, . . .he might not like the answer.


	19. The Porn Is Probably A Good Sign

Crinkled bills being counted and handed to a large hand. “ 40, 50, 60.” The skeleton folded up his wallet and said, “ Thanks again for staying late.” Asgore smiled gently, “ You’re welcome.” glancing over the bills before pocketing them. Ras’ eyes went and lingered on the now settled and cool pie on the counter. 

“ Would you like a slice?” the deep boisterous voice of Asgore asked. Sans tensed and said, “ No thank you.” formally, looking back to the elder goat monster, “ I, um, we should talk about Papyrus.” 

Asgore nodded with a sigh, “ Our boy, hm?” Sans looked to him with a straight, unfeeling face. “ Did he eat today?” 

“ No.” Asgore returned, slightly apologetic, “ I tried to tempt him with pie and made him a sandwich, even tried some pudding cups I brought from home.” That was code-word for honey-mustard packets. Papyrus, when Asgore first met him, loved the condiment, he would drown hotdogs and chips and honestly just about anything in the yellowish drizzle, but Sans didn’t keep it around anymore. He thought it was disgusting and Papyrus wasn’t supposed to have it. Messy, Sans complained, stains, Sans said. 

Sans frowned, “ Alright, thanks anyway.” Asgore nodded, “ He’s upstairs, asleep.” So early? Sans thought with a cocked eye socket, that seemed. . .suspicious to him. Usually Papyrus was still laying around on a couch when he returned home, sometimes he drug his feet so much Sans had to nearly superglue him to his mattress to get him to sleep. 

“ Ok.” 

Asgore nodded and Sans’ lack of further questions was a strong hint that Asgore was now to make his exit. Asgore went over to the door and Sans watched him as the large goat man pulled on his thick woolen coat and gloves. It got cold in New Home at night. Asgore looked back to Sans, who stood leaning against the kitchen door frame. The small skeleton looked exhausted, his face looked brownish and bluish in places where magic was gathering trying to repair the bone, the skeleton equivalent of a bruise, cracks and small fragments of the skull were freshly missing. He stood erect, strongly, but Asgore knew he had to be hurting; they looked painful. 

“ Sans, he said something to me today.” Asgore began, slightly hesitant. He didn't know if it was his place to say such a thing. 

“ What did he say?” Sans grunted, he was done here. Ready for bed and a million other things. 

“ He said you hated him.” Sans watched Asgore with average interest, his expression unchanging, “ And?” he retorted.

Asgore paused and blinked. He smiled but it. . .looked strained. “ He really thinks that, maybe. . .maybe you could think about telling him otherwise.” 

Sans blinked, “ Thank you. I’ll call you when I need you again.” Asgore nodded, keeping a small sigh internal, as he opened the door and left out into the cold. Sans stood a moment in the living room silence, then walked over and locked their three separate locks. Then his sockets went to the stairs. Sleeping, huh?

Papyrus was on his mattress in the dark, headphones half on his skull. His eyes watched with concentration as the monster wolf’s dick entered into the woman’s ass over and over again, he could hear the strong, almost unrealistically wet, slap come through the earphone again and again. He lazily stroked at his cock under the covers; he had succeeded in making his mind blank. A rare treat for Corn. For after all when you didn’t think, when you didn’t make decisions, it was as close to death as you could get without actually going there. When he forgot where he was or who he was or the hell he lived in everyday, he called that a win. It wasn’t peace, but it was a blank void. Like when he smoked. Like when he slept. It was like nothing. 

He gave a low moan as he went about pleasuring himself, he rarely did this anymore, because well, he usually didn't have the energy. The only computer in the house he could lug into his room was his dad’s shitty old, bulky laptop which Gaster usually kept in his workshop near the back of their townhouse. Gaster didn't use it anymore, neither did Sans, mostly because it was a piece of shit. It had awful internet, it lagged and buffered, and half the time the audio currently playing was minutes ahead of the porn clip Corn was currently seeing, but, it hardly mattered when it was porn. Ras and his father both had more modern phones they took with them to work but Corn obviously couldn’t get his hands on those, and he himself didn’t have a phone or computer to do the dirty deed with, hence the small theft. He was lowly panting and he slowly, slowly, almost enjoying the suspense of denying himself, continued to touch up and down his penis, squeezing tightly; whimpering. He liked it a little painful. 

As he mentioned before, he rarely had the energy for porn nowadays; it was a lot of work to drag the computer upstairs and that's not even mentioning the extraordinary amount of effort jacking off took. He had to let himself become aroused and then summon up his ecto-dick and then tend to it and it was just so many steps. Not to mention so much magic and Corn wasn't known for his rolls of excess magic storage. He gave a groan, moving his hand between the sheets, trying to lay down and watch at the same time; a difficult task. He rarely brought himself to orgasm anymore, too much work, too much magic, and he usually wouldn't do this but hell, the day had been stressful, with all that had happened last night and all. His mind wandered to the scene last night, him underneath Sans on the bed, he edited out what they were screaming about and the hits to the face and him trying to throw himself out the window. He imagined Sans holding him down and grinding over top of him. Oh fuck yeah. Sans wearing a small little sneer, “ You like that, mutt?” he'd taunt. Corn closed his eyes, gritting his teeth in sensation as the lewd moans coming through the headset added to his imagination. What did m’lord sound like when he moaned? When he was overcome with pleasure? When he let everything go and just let himself hang out loosely? Corn shuddered at the mental sight of Ras’ magical cock hanging out. Fuck, he bet it was huge. He began to whine further, picking up the pace when he- heard a step creak. 

He froze for a moment, sweat pooling instantly on his bone. Oh shit. Was that Asgore? His eyes flashed to the small clock in the corner of his computer screen. Was it really that late or was this laptop’s clock just not set up, right? Another creak, then another, whoever was coming, they walked fast. On further listening, Corn sat up straight in panic. N-not Asgore! The steps didn't have enough weight! That left only Sans or someone who had broken in and was trying to kill him! He prayed it would be the latter!

He fumbled around, slamming the computer’s off button, he'd clear the history later, not that anyone used this thing, and fought with the headphones to get them off from around his skull. He felt his soul hammer in his chest as the steps came down the hall, their upcoming destination his bedroom. Fuck! Fuck! he thought, but he really didn't care. . .Sans already knew he was gross and Sans already hated him, he bet Sans wouldn't even be SURPRISED to see him watching porn in the dark on some lagging computer, he'd probably expect it. But unfortunately he knew he'd probably get yelled at, or humiliated in one way or another, so he TRIED to force himself to act as if he did care. As if he did have some pride or some small-shred of self-respect to protect. Which he didn't. But sometimes you had to lie to yourself for the good of yourself. Corn found he did that pretty often. 

Shoving the laptop, headphones, and tangle of cords under his messy mattress, he sat up and looked with panic to his glowing crotch. His boner! Fuck! He snatched the stained, caseless pillow from behind his head and slammed it on his crotch as the door opened. He looked over with wide sockets, sweat dripping down his skull. Sans stood with the light of the hall lighting him ominously. Corn leaned back on one of his palms and pulled a strained looking smile, attempting to look casual.

“ So you’re not sleeping, as I figured.” Sans stated, Corn couldn't see his facial injuries in the dark. He looked as intimidating as always in his leather shorts and dark denim jacket, buttoned up under his dark blue handkerchief. His leather boots were cleaned in to a sturdy shine.

“ h-heh, yup.” Corn replied weakly, scratching at behind his neck vertebrae. “ Then what ARE you doing?” Sans questioned as he walked in, his dark blue eyes scanned the room suspiciously, “ Not smoking I hope.” 

Papyrus gave a nervous chuckle and followed his older brother with his eyes as he came inside, “ n-no, no smokin’, Sans.” Sans looked at him critically, stopping at the foot of his mattress. He took a whiff of the air and replied, “ Smells weird in here.” Papyrus sweat, chuckling timidly, “ well Asgore sprayed s-some weird air freshener in here, y-you are always complain’ that it smells.” Corn looked away, his fake smile loosening to a small frown. 

This was all so trivial, almost casual, the last time they had seen each other, minus Sans sitting in the doorway all night to watch, they had both cried. Was this all Sans had to say to him? Of course it is, Papyrus thought bitterly, he doesn't care about me, not in any way that matters. He just wants to pretend like everythin’ is normal. 

“ That's because it DOES.” Sans retorted, turning to face Papyrus, crossing his hands over his chest. “ You leave food up here and leave dirty clothes for weeks on end! You live like an ANIMAL! Doesn't it ever bother you?!” 

Corn shrugged weakly, still staring to the floor. Ras squinted at him impatiently, waiting for a response. He couldn't believe his brat of a younger brother, he had been so awful last time Sans has seen him, it had drove Sans to tears! The frustration of it all! Papyrus should apologize! Ugh, his younger brother was truly the worst. 

“ Whatever.” Sans said darkly as Papyrus didn't reply, “ You should be grateful that I clean your clothes, otherwise they’d grow mold and who knows what else! I really shouldn't, but you’re just so pathetic it’s hard not to.” 

Papyrus shrugged again with a frown, looking to the floorboards, making Sans more frustrated, “ LOOK AT ME WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU, DOG!” Papyrus looked up and Ras growled, “ You’re so frustrating! You’re such an annoyance! I swear to God, dog, you make me want to shoot somebody!” 

“ if i’m such a. . .”

“ WHAT?” Papyrus recoiled slightly, then said, “ nothin’.” looking away again, which was really starting to drive Sans crazy. 

“ No, go ahead, say it.” Sans encouraged in the most threatening way possible, taking a step forward. Papyrus shrunk down some and wanted Sans to leave him alone. “ n-nothin’, Sans.” 

“ Try again.” Sans snarled with blazing sockets. Papyrus looked at him with sad ones. “ n-nothin’, m’lord.” 

“ Better.” Sans stated, stepping back, and lacing his hands behind his back. “ Did you behave for Asgore today?” 

Papyrus was now blushing slightly from the embarrassment of having to say the title, not to mention the way his dick was throbbing more at the way Sans forced him to say it. Ugh, he thought, th-this is fucked up. I really am disgusting. 

“ yeah i did.” 

“ You're not in your pajamas.” Sans stated harshly then barked, “ I didn't get them for you so you could sleep in your used, stinking clothes!” 

“ o-oh, uh,” Corn hated wearing those things. Made him feel like some kind of overgrown kid. “ r-right, m'lord, i’ll change in a bit.” 

Ras glared at him, “ Did you brush your teeth?”

“ y-yes, i did.”

“ Did you eat dinner?”

Papyrus debated whether or not to tell the truth. If Sans had talked to Asgore, he probably already knew. “ no, i-i wasn't hungry.” Sans frowned, ‘tch’ing. “ Papyrus you’ll only get weaker if you don't eat! 

“ i know.” he mumbled softly. Sans was torn, Papyrus needed sleep, but he was just sitting in here anyway. He could eat now. “ Get up, mutt! I’ll prepare you something.” 

“ b-but Sans,” Papyrus protested, “ i-i-” He searched his mind for some kind of argument, he hated eating and kind of just wanted to go back to his porn or to sleep. “ i-i already brushed my teeth!” he exclaimed in opposition. That was a lie, but Sans didn't know, he was honestly surprised Sans didn't breath-check him like he usually did. 

“ You can re-brush them! Stars know it won't hurt your yellow set.” Sans strode to the doorway and barked, “ Come on!” assertively before striding down the hall. Papyrus took a deep breath, attempting to unsummon his penis, it wasn't easy as his eyes lingered on Sans’ backside as he walked away down the hall. Corn’s sockets twitched. Fuck. His brother fetish or whatever it was could not be normal, then again, it was probably the LEAST compromising part of his life so, Papyrus wouldn't be beating himself over it. He took enjoyment where he could, might as well break the monotony somehow while he was stuck in this prison of a life. 

Corn eventually stood, knowing Sans would return and drag him aggressively out if he didn't come himself, and succeeded in making his dick disappear. He pulled on his black, oversized coat before he left his room. It used to fit him, back when he was broader and his bones had more girth, he used to like to think of himself as Sans’ guard dog. Fearsome, strong, intimidating. He felt of worth, walking just behind of Sans, glaring at who would be enemies of m'lord, intimidating them and keeping them away. Course, with his days locked away in the house, and even before those, in the nights he could not sleep; haunted by guilt-ridden dreams, he had begun to lose weight. He was ‘Like a damn toothpick!’ as Sans liked to put it. His tall frame, once making him like a watchtower of stone, now showed off his fragility and smallness, like a thin dead tree in a clearing, surrounded only by weeds. 

He walked into the kitchen to find Sans rummaging through drawers, pulling out exactly what he needed. Corn hovered in the doorway and asked quietly, “ wh-what are we havin’?” The small kitchen was brightly lit, counters clean, a barely touched pie still on the stove, every shelf labeled and organized, Ras’ pride and joy. Sans stood up, holding the pot he wanted and exposing his face from behind the wooden cupboard door.

“ Lasagna.”

Papyrus blinked widely, m'lord looked. . .terrible. . .His skull had small fresh cracks and it was bruised terribly. Small fragments of bone were missing and Papyrus asked, “ what happened?” unable to keep the horror out of his voice. Sans blinked at him with a raised socket. He placed the pot on the counter, “ With what?” 

“ . . .” Papyrus was in disbelief, “ y-your face!” Sans blinked and then replied, “ Oh, just a fight.” dismissively, returning to his gathering of ingredients. Is it that bad? Sans wondered, feeling slight inconvenience. He might have dabbed on some makeup if that was the case. He liked to wear it just to cover injuries, you were only as weak as you appeared, the same went for strength. If you looked unharmed, untouchable, carried yourself with pride and strength, you were all those things. You could make yourself invincible. 

Papyrus squirmed uncomfortably in the doorframe. Sans came home with injuries occasionally, Pap, taking after his brother, usually just tried to ignore them. I mean Sans always pretended they weren't there, but. . .they were, and Papyrus forced himself to not think about if they hurt, because. . .he knew they did. 

“ who with?” Pap asked in distress, Sans returned, “ Enough of that, go sit down. It doesn't matter who with.” Corn thought, hand tightening on the doorframe, of course it matters who with. 

Corn sat jittery at the kitchen table. Ras cooked mostly silently by the stove, he was beginning to feel quite tired but refused to show it. He had been up since five. “ . . .was it somebody from the king’s gang?” 

“ I said we weren't talking about it.”

“ . . .but m'lord i-”

Sans stabbed the uncooked lasagna with the wooden spoon, glaring back at Corn. “ I will make you eat this entire pan if you don't stop questioning me.” Corn frowned sadly as Ras waited a moment, to see if Papyrus would challenge him or not, before popping the lasagna in the oven. 

Ras made them drinks before coming over and sitting. He sat the stemless wine glass in front of him and the plastic cup of apple juice in front of Corn. 

“ . . .” There was silence, Papyrus found it uncomfortable, Sans didn't care. “ . . .did you see dad at work today?” 

“ Did you see him at home today?”

“ . . .no.” Corn took a sip of his apple juice dejectedly. Ras returned, “ You’ve answered your own question and good riddance, I’m glad, I hate that geezer.” He took a sip of wine. Corn shrugged with a frown. 

“ . . .Hey,” Ras began, looking to Papyrus with an. . .uncertain expression. “ I-” Corn looked to him as Ras began, “ I don't hate you, dog.” 

Corn blinked widely. What? 

“ You’re annoying and pathetic and lazy, unmotivated and sad and a pain-in-the-ass; ungrateful and overall a disappointment and disgrace,” 

Corn felt sweat on his skull and reopenings in the ever present wound that was his low self-esteem.

“ But-” Ras looked to him with a frown, “ I don't hate you.” He took a sip of wine, looking uninterested. Corn waited for him to say something further. But he didn't. That was it. 

Corn uncomfortably shrugged, “ thanks?” 

Ras nodded, “ You are quite welcome, dog.” getting up to go check on their food. Papyrus was actually more shocked than he let on. That was fucking weird. Was Sans trying to. . .connect emotionally? N-no, definitely not that. Maybe make amends? N-no, Sans never made amends! He thought he never did anything wrong! S-so, what was that then?

They ate lasagna in silence. Ras looked with annoyance as Corn picked at it. “ Fucking eat it, worm. You’re lucky I cooked it for you.” Corn began to eat it. Ras cringed with disgust at the dribbles of sauce Corn refused to wipe from his chin. He got up and grabbed his napkin, Corn looked slightly surprised as he rounded the table and came over. Ras grabbed his chin harshly and ordered, “ Don’t be so messy.” wiping Corn’s face quickly. Corn would blush but he was too transfixed by the aggressive touch and sound of Sans’ voice. 

Was there something different about tonight? That was the thought Corn kept coming back to. Had anything changed? His eyes kept darting back up to Ras neatly eating as the meal wore on. Was something about m'lord different? Something about himself? Was it what Ras said? Something in the food? Something in his head? He took a bite of burnt and distasteful lasagna, staring at Ras. Sans caught the gaze. 

“ What are YOU staring at?” Sans asked grumpily. 

Corn shrugged, looking back down to his plate, “ i don't know.” he replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	20. Friends?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late! I was feeling pretty sick this weekend! Enjoy the chapter! I try and post every Sat or Sun! Check out my book if you haven't! (In notes at end of chapter!) Thanks!

Red pressed play on his computer, letting the next video of an angry middle aged human at some kind of meeting begin. It was taken from a phone with bad quality at a discrete angle. The man was screaming, yelling, Red would usually laugh at how he threw his cup of coffee and began to cuss one of his coworkers out but he was. . .distracted. His white eye lights went over to his phone and he resisted the urge to grab it. He grumpily looked back to the video, he reached over and grabbed a messy handful of mustard-flavored chips from the bag on his desk. He crunched them loudly, some crumbs falling from his mouth onto his shirt. He tried to focus as the human hollered hysterically but he just couldn’t. He paused the video with a fast click and pushed his rolling chair over to his phone, he had placed it a ways away to attempt to avoid the temptation of looking at it. He picked it up and frowned as there was no new notifications on his lock screen.

He opened it up and and went into his messages. He had texted weedbag like three times now. Stretch had talked to him about finding that weird Sans guy he had saw in town but the pot-head had been dodgy ever since that frat party. Red didn’t remember most of it, ok, any of it. He remembered mostly drinking BEFORE he had gotten there, speaking of which, his eyes crossed the room to the small shipping box that still sat mostly untouched on the other side of the room. He pushed his chair over to it with lazy feet and stared down into the contents with uneasy eyes. 

There it was. In all its kinky glory. He gingerly reached down with one hand, almost as if he was afraid to touch the thing, and then fished it out slowly. It was a leather, shiny collar, the inside was lined with fabric to make it softer along the neck. It had a glinting customized tag with, he gave it a strained look, with. . ., oh he could barely say it, with his NAME on it. He dropped the collar back into the box as if he couldn’t stand to look at it any longer. He. . .hated it. 

He looked back down at his phone, rechecking ‘The Great Dick’’s text conversation. Edge hadn’t responded to his far more than three texts, mostly angrily shot off after the brat had hung up on him and then. . .not picked up his many more calls. He was furious! Enraged! Appalled! That entitled jerk thought just because they hooked up ONCE, Red was now his personal sextoy! Oh Red was steamed. As Edge continued to ignore him and the night wore on, Red found himself returning again and again to the package, almost obsessively. Looking at the collar with distrust and anger, declaring it gross and throwing it back it. But then, he started staring at it longer and feeling over it with his hands. I-it felt nice on the inside, it. . .must have been, he had felt his throat dry, been expensive. No! Back in the box! The tag, he had touched over the metal with his hand, specially made, stainless steel, ‘Property of Papyrus’ on the back, n-no! Back in the box! I-it was so sleek and strong looking. Back in the- Edge hadn’t even asked him before sending it!!! Edge. . .he had felt his groin heat, hadn’t even asked before. . .

He had put it on and done things he will not dare recount to you, not to anyone, and he was so horrified and so mad and so disgusted with himself afterwards, he had just started slamming the six-pack he kept in his closet for emergencies. After that, he supposed he had somehow stumbled to the party, and got even drunker there, he had no idea of the details to be honest. 

Either way, his douche, somewhat hot, little brother nor the guy who had said they’d make plans, was texting or calling him back. He felt kinda like he had been stood up. He rolled back over to his computer, and placed his phone down. Papyrus usually pestered him everyday, or every other day, and. . .maybe he sorta, kinda was in Boss withdrawal but whatever, it didn’t even matter, Edge was such an ass. He played his video of the man having a mental breakdown and watched with a dry expression as the guy began to rip up reports and throw the shreds while screaming. 

“ me too, man. me too.” 

He wandered through the hallway unsurely, glancing around at the room numbers. He, uh, had no idea what he was doing here. He was bored and maybe, sorta, not really, i mean whatever, lonely. Sans didn’t have many friends ok! Unless Frisk counted but calling an actual child your friend was weird, made him feel like a bigger loser than he actually was, so fuck it, he was hunting down weedbag. Only cause I have nothing better to do! he thought to himself with defiance. He knew which building Stretch lived in, not cause he was a stalker, but cause it must have come up at one point or another. He considered calling Blue to ask Stretch's dorm number, but he hadn’t talked to the shrimp in forever and it’s not like they were friends, so he felt like it’d be awkward. 

He looked forward and saw a Loox with sharp teeth talking to a Astigmatism in the hall. " hey.” he greeted and they both looked to him, the Loox scowled. “ What do YOU want?” the Loox asked. Red blinked in confusion, uh, did he know this guy? 

The Astigmatism's large eye flickered closed, revealing its snickering smile, diagonal eyes, and triangular mark between them. The creature had two horns on each side of its head; curled and sharp. Small pointy legs held the creature upright, “ Red, oh my stars, how are YOU?” 

Red grunted, “ huh?” 

“ You were crazy at Pyrope’s, man.” Astig said, grinning, “ That takes guts what you did. I’ve never seen someone be up there that long.” 

“ up where?” Red asked and Astigmatism laughed in disbelief, smile and face pulling up like a set of skin blinds revealing his dark, unblinking eye. “ You don’t even remember?!” 

Red glared at them and growled, “ yeah, i don’t. where was i?” cocking his head, squinting at them, with an aggressive expression. Eyewalker sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, covering his large eye somewhat. “ Up doing the keg, show-hog.” the Loox replied, “ You did a LOT of stupid stuff.” he said with resentment in his tone, “ You’re lucky we didn't throw you out.” 

Red realized what they were talking about quickly, the party he had woke up at, a keg-stand, he had OBVIOUSLY crashed. He grinned in a shit-eating kind of way. “ jealous, Eyewalker?” He remembered this guy now that he thought hard about it. He hung around Stretch sometimes, plus he think they had chem together. 

The Loox rolled his large eye. “ Don't make me laugh, Sans. You looked like a total moron.” 

Red shrugged, “ whatever, EYE least i didn't trail after weedbag all night.” with a snarky grin. Eyewalker looked shocked and snarled, “ Don't pick on me!” taking a fast step forward, Astig pulled an arm up to hold him back. “ Relax, cousin!” Astig pleaded and Loox growled, looking to him with bared pointy teeth before glaring at Red hatefully, “ Whatever!” he commented, grabbing Astig’s arm. “ Let's get outta here!” 

“ runnin’ away from a fight?” Red mocked, causing Eyewalker to freeze, looking back with a fire in his single eye. Red postured, making his stance wide and consuming all the space he could. “ you’re such a sidekick. talk such a big talk, but in truth, you’re just EYEbsolutely pathetic.” Red could let loose some steam. Edge was driving him crazy, his own mind was driving him wild, he wanted to fuck Edge as much as he wanted to throttle him, his slowly irritating isolation was not helping. Why not take it out on this guy? Red didn't particularly care for him. Didn't really know him. Not that it mattered. This wasn't personal.

Eyewalker spun around and before Astig could snatch him, he ran at Red, who dodged left flawlessly. Loox threw a punch with one of his thin green arms after pivoting to go after Red again. His expression was savage and eye intense! Red dodged again and chuckled as Loox missed again. Astig protested, “ Loox! Calm down!” from the side. 

Red ducked underneath a kick and snatched Loox’s small ankle pulling him strongly forward with a wicked smile on his face. Loox yelped as his round body hit the floor. Red straightened up, grinning in his victory. He didn't even have to throw a punch. Shouldn’t have expected much more from a city-slicker though. It actually kind of made him miss Papyrus’ well formed punches and vicious determination. What is brother lacked in skill, he made up for in brutish tenacity. In aggression. Red paused mentally a moment. . .did he. . .miss him? 

“ hey asshole! what are you doin’ to my friend?!” Red looked in surprise and saw Stretch storming down the hall, expensive stylish sweatshirt of orange and yellow over his khaki skinnies. Astig came over and helped Loox to his feet. 

“ oh, Stretch, i-” 

“ no!” Stretch barked, “ get out of here, jerk! we’re NOT friends! stay away from me and my friends!” Eyewalker glared at Red, Astig looking between Stretch, who had halted right in front of Red, and Red. Red stared up at his neighbor's fierce sockets, it didn't look like he was playing. For once the pot-head was being serious.

‘we ain't ever been friends, Stretch.’

‘i don't fuckin’ care, we’re NOT friends! don't you have like a zillion other monsters you could be telling this too?’

Frisk’s dark hair in their eyes and small hands on his arm; ‘but you could be.’.

Red stared up at Stretch a moment; conflicted. Wasn’t weedbag right? They WEREN’T friends. Isn’t that what he was always saying? Why- why was he even here?

“ w-well, yeah!” he snapped, spinning around, “ i wasn’t here for any of your losers anyway!” he barked as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He felt some flustered color on his skull grow as he quickly escaped down the hall. He guessed he was really right all those times as he strode away, they weren’t friends but, if that was the case, why did he feel so. . .disappointed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	21. Escaping Sugarland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray! I'm on time this week. Warning-slight lol, but, involves cringey moments from skeleton's childhood. Nothing scarring but lol, just thought u should be warned.

Stretch looked at the page of psychology notes in front of him. His expression twisted in distaste. Oh jeez, these were. . .pretty complicated. He decided he should really make an effort not to skip so many classes, getting notes from other monsters really didn't help make the content any easier to understand. A chiming song filled the room and Stretch dug out his phone. Eyewalker laid back on his own bed, in the corner of their shared dorm, hands folded behind his head. His eye found Stretch, as Stretch pulled his phone from his hoodie. Stretch looked torn. 

" Who is it?" Eyewalker asked and Stretch sighed, " my bro." 

" Oh 'my magnificent big brother'?" Loox asked with a grin. Stretch rolled his eye lights, giving a perturbed glance to his roommate over his shoulder. " you were drunk as me, how do you remember that?" 

" How do you?" Eyewalker questioned and Stretch paused before saying, " fair." with a shrug. He stood up from his desk and said, " gotta take this, hold up." 

Eyewalker nodded, " K." returning to his graphic novel he had laid down beside him on his bed. Stretch stepped out of their room into the main area of their quad, then out to the main hall, bringing the phone up to the side of his skull and pressing the answer button.

" yo, bro, what up?" 

" P-Pappy! Hi!"

Stretch felt his soul warm and he wanted to physically squirm against how his body relaxed from the tension in the air, how his breath coming down into his ribs was warmer, how his body loosen.

" h-hey, Sans, what's up with you?" He wandered down the hall, glancing around to look for a place to talk where they wouldn't be disturbed. 

" Um, nothing much! I had a sleepover with Pap-Pap last night! I have class later today but I figured I'd see what you were up to now!" Stretch smiled, feeling his skull heat, why was Sans always so excited on the phone? Why was he always so excited, period? 

" i'm not up to much, was workin' on some physiology homework." 

" Oh physiology, huh? I'm taking that next semester! Man, I can't wait till I'm there next year! Maybe we'll have it together!" 

Stretch sat down on the steps with a small chuckle, Blue couldn't see how uncomfortable his face had gotten. Sans? Here? Stretch didn't think that was good idea. He would be horrified if Sans found out about his habits down here, I mean he clearly remembered how Sans had reacted to the weed. And the weed was just the surface. Heavily drinking, raging parties, hooking up with girls he barely knew, he knew for a fact Sans wouldn't. . .approve. 

" Well of course not Psychology 101 but maybe 102 or whatever it's called, won't that be so fun, Pappy?" Blue chirped happily. Stretch rubbed behind his skull, faking a smile even though Sans wasn't here. 

" yeah, awesome."

" I know right!" 

It was more than just Sans' disapproval that made Stretch not like the idea of him coming though. See one of the reasons Stretch picked a university so far away in the first place was he wanted some. . .space. For kind of complicated reasons. He didn't really know how to explain it, because maybe to you it wouldn't sound that weird, or maybe it would, Stretch really didn't know. All he knew was the thoughts and feelings he sometimes had around his brother and father weren't normal. When he was there, all cuddled up in their compliments and touchiness, if he wasn't careful, he became intoxicated by it. Starting thinking things that didn't make sense. Weird things. 

He just had realized how weird their whole house was. It started even before high school, when he had started to gain more and more understanding of how it was. . .unusual. And he had made plenty of efforts before to change himself, but when he still lived at home, every time he tried he ended up melting back into the strange-gushy pool that had kept him hostage since birth.

The first time he could clearly remember anyone telling him how freaky his family was, was from none other than the grand asshole himself, Red. Speaking of Red, Stretch couldn't believe that skeleton had had the nerve to show himself around here! After being such an ass to him at the party and now picking on Eyewalker, seriously?! Who shoved a pointy stick up that guy's ass anyway?! Well, Stretch actually knew it was probably Edge, but you could argue Red was older so Edge actually got HIS meanness from him, not the other way around. 

Anyway, it's when they were. . .seeing each other, 'talking', little-kid dating, whatever you wanted to call it, in the summer between seventh grade and eighth. They were walking down the street to go play with Classic, sometimes called Shorts, and Pap-pap, though everyone but Blue just called him Papyrus, except Edge who had a few more. . .creative nicknames. They were planning to shoot hoops and he had been talking about how Sans and him had made a batch of cupcakes with dad last night but they got so messy! So dad gave them a bath together. He remembered little Red just staring at him and middle-school Stretch thought the gaze had lasted so long, there might be something in his teeth. 

" your dad did what?" Red asked with a creeped out expression.

Stretch smiled innocently and replied, " he gave me and my bro a bath, heh, i got frosting all over Sans' face, he was so angry about all my SWEET puns." Stretch winked, knowing how much his recently acquired 'boyfriend' liked puns. Red just stared at him with an uncomfortable expression. 

" that's fuckin' weird, Stretch. we're like twelve, i guess you're eleven, but still. . .that's like real weird. kinda pedo vibes, ya know?" 

" what's a pedo?" he had asked in return and Red cringed, " how innocent are you? ugh, they're creepy guys who put their penises in little boys' buttholes, everyone knows that." 

" i-in their buttholes?" small Stretch stuttered, being confused. That didn't make sense, you couldn't put anything in a butt, only poop came out, th-that didn't make any sense. Anyway, this was making him feel weird.

" w-well i'm a skeleton so i don't even have a butt, so it doesn't matter, Red. no pado vibes or whatever." He looked to Red with a small scowl and then widened his sockets. " um, why are you smilin' at me like that?" Red chuckled ominously. 

" i bet you five dollars i can prove skeletons have butts." 

Stretch blinked and then said with determination, " you're on!" That was IMPOSSIBLE! He would win that money easy! He would know if something like that was possible! His big brother knew everything! Sans would have told him if-.

" what the crap?!" Stretch had exclaimed as Red had stepped back and forth with his red ecto-butt summoned, shorts dropped to the floor. They were in Red's house in his messy room with the door locked. " h-how is it p-possible-i-!" Stretch threw his hands out in distress. Red chuckled maniacally, " i win! you better hand over that money, dork!"

Stretch frowned slightly at his loss, eyes roaming with interest over Red's brightly colored ass, it looked weird! It was almost see-through! Sans was never going to believe this! " how do you do that?" Stretch asked with interest and Red hiked up his shorts with pride, " practice." he pronounced, " i found some old magazines of my dads' and i've been summoning the parts ever since, some are easier than others. i would try and teach ya but," Red had shrugged, walking over to him, " with how handsy your dad is, it's probably safer i don't." He had smirked at him knowingly and Stretch had shrunk, skull glowing up orange. 

If that story made you profusely uncomfortable, it SHOULD have, Stretch thought so anyway! Red was RIGHT! As were the plenty of other monsters who gave their family sideways glances as Stretch rode around in the child-part of the shopping cart, Blue bouncing around inside of the larger cart area in the supermarket. As were the parents the day of the Halloween school parade, when they had whispered hushedly with judgmental looks on their faces as Stretch ran around as in his queen toriel dress and Blue; his fairy princess costume; Gaster let them wear whatever they wanted. As were the kids at school who shoved him against the lockers, growling "Faggot!" with a snarl as they passed. 

His upbringing was. . .weird. Too touchy, too 'accepting', too flowers and kittens and rainbows and 'go for your dreams' and everything else. And for years at home, Stretch had been trying to change. To become someone he wasn't embarrassed to be! A real man! But it was impossible when your brother curled up to you on the couch after school, bringing you a mug of freshly made warm cocoa full of the cutest rainbow mini-marshmallows in a hand-painted mug he made in elementary school with the words 'Pappy' messily painted across it in orange. Stretch was TOO WEAK.

So he HAD to escape! He HAD to! His bubblegum and angel-cake head started to think weird things if he was there too long. Like that cuddling in dad's bed with him while watching a comedic movie was somehow an ACCEPTABLE thing to do at eighteen years old?! Or how Sans' small body fit so nicely in between his arms. Or how-enough! This is exactly what he was talking about! Home made him into THAT! And he swore when he left there would be no more! No more fruitcakes and lollipops, there would be liquor and boobs! Pot and parties! And that was that! 

Now Stretch listened to Sans clear his throat over the phone line, like he was preparing to give a speech on national TV. " Papyrus, I. . .I think we should talk about the. . ." Blue's voice got hushed, " you know, the mari-u-juana." Stretch frowned slightly and said, " it's harmless, Sans, really. there's no need for you to worry about it."

" Pappy!" Sans barked, " Did you even DO any real research?!" Stretch squinted and fought, " i did." slightly indignantly. " i checked out several books from the library on it." And then immediately left them on my desk and never read them, Stretch thought with dryness. 

" AND?" Blue questioned. Stretch shrugged, " uh, i don't remember now what i read." He quickly lied, he didn't want Sans to know he didn't even bother to read them. He had tried to, opened the first page of one, and then immediately got lazy and laid there with his head on the desk instead. Then Eyewalker invited him to smoke. . .and they proceeded to do so.

" Oh my stars! It's already beginning!" Blue exclaimed in horror, " P-Pappy you have to stop while you still can! I-I read right here," Stretch assumed Blue was looking at his computer or tablet screen but he couldn't be sure. " the subjects who smoked marijuana every day had their critical skills, related to attention, memory, and learning significantly diminished! You couldn't remember! Your memory is already going! Oh my gosh, what if you forget me?! Pappy! Pappy! You remember who I am, right?!" Sans sounded legitimately terrified by this idea.

" yes, Sans!" Stretch fought with a dry expression, feeling slightly offended. He wasn't an old geezer, he just smoked pot, like everyone did, it wasn't a big deal. If it was dangerous not that many monsters would do it, right? 

" Are you sure? What's your relationship to me?!"

" i'm your brother." Stretch responded dryly and Sans shot, " What's your last name?!"

" Gaster." Stretch replied, bringing an annoyed hand to his skull. 

" What's your blood type?! Address?!"

" Sans!" Stretch protested, " my memory is FINE!" He sighed and explained, " seriously, i'm FINE. you worry too much, bro, i'm WEED ahead of you with all the safety stuff, i'm FINE, i promise. you trust me?" he asked tenderly, " right?" 

Blue was quiet for a moment before he sighed, " Oh, yes, of course I do, I just. . .I get scared."

Silence fell and Stretch asked softly, eyes concerned, " scared for me?"

" Yeah, and for me, and because I don't know what I'm doing."

Stretch exhaled quietly, " none of us do."

. . .” I love you, Pappy." Stretch felt his soul heat immeasurably, sending his mind to sugarland, " . . .i love you too, bro." ‘So so much’ stood aching at the edge of his tongue. 

" When. . .when you get home for Christmas can we go drive around and see the Christmas lights? I-I wanna see the lights in Waterfall. . .They're always so beautiful."

" sure, Sans, sounds good." Stretch replied, trying to push his choking affection away, sometimes he worried he liked Blue a little too much. 

" Really?"

" yeah."

" . . .Mweh heh heh! Yes! We'll go then! It's a date!"

Some sweat found Stretch's skull, " u-um, i mean not really a date but i get what you mean." 

Blue giggled, " Course not silly! You and me?" Another gleeful giggle. " On a date?! What would we even do?! Who's the boy and who's the girl?"

Stretch blushed, scratching behind his skull. Sans had no problems with gay couples but he was a rather straightforward thinker; simple sometimes.

" i-i think you'd be the girl."

" What?! Me?! No way! I'm the boy! You're the girl!" 

Stretch chuckled, happy bubbling up through him, " no! heh, i'm not!" 

" Mweh heh! Yes, you are! You're pretty and smart just like a girl!" Stretch blushed and felt a weird feeling overtake his pelvis. 

" g-guys can be just as smart as girls! a-and i'd be handsome, Sans!"

" Heh, yeah, right! You're handsome too!"

Stretch shifted a little where he sat, " um, thanks. . ." feeling uncomfortable in his own heatedness. He stood up, trying to shake the feelings away, what was wrong with him? 

" You're welcome, Pappy! I guess we can both be the boy if you want! Or I could be the girl, though I wouldn't be pretty, it'd be like Alphys! A cool girl!" 

Stretch smiled shyly, " i'm sure you would be, i mean," Stretch glanced around behind him to make sure he was alone in the stairwell. " you're really cool, bro, so. . ." 

" . . .Y-you really think so? I-I mean of course you do! I'm the Magnificent Sans after all! It's only natural you think I am cool! But. . .thanks. You're. . .you're super cool too." 

Stretch smiled warmly, " thanks, bro." 

Some silence fell and Stretch was trying not to feel weird when Blue blurted, " Daddy got you something for Christmas! Something big!" 

" what is it?" Stretch instantly asked and Blue made a muffled screaming sound, " I can't-tell you!" he said with strain, " It's been killing me! But I want it to be a surprise for you!" Stretch smiled, " o-oh, ok, well don't strain yourself." 

Stretch could hear Blue grin, " Ok, I'll try not to!" Stretch's mind for some reason kept going back to the text Blue had sent him. The one he had first read while drunk at Pyrope's party. He had reread it later while sober and really had questions about it.

Did Sans really mean everything that was written in there? I mean he had said some kind of strange stuff. Like the fact that he apparently missed Stretch so much sometimes he just sat in his room? Or the fact that he was worried about getting a job to 'provide' for him when he was older? Like they were going to live together or something? But that was wrong, of course, they weren't going to live together. They would both get girlfriends at some point, right? Stretch certainly planned on it. And Sans. . .knew that, right? Weird feelings and date jokes aside, they were just brothers, and abnormal upbringing or not, brothers didn't live together after they moved out, at least not for extended periods of time.

" hey Sans. . .about that text you sent?"

The line went dead silent, like Sans had stopped inhaling air. " Uh, which one?" 

" the long one." Stretch clarified and Blue sounded whiney as he complained, " Pappy! You weren't supposed to read that! I asked you not to! I-in the text right after that!" 

" sorry," he said, scratching behind his neck vertebrae, " i already read it before i got the second one." 

" . . .W-well? What about it?" 

Stretch didn't know how to say it. " uh, you know we're not goin' live together when we're older, right?" The line was silent as Stretch elaborated, slightly nervously, " like we'll have our own separate lives then and stuff, i mean we'll still talk and see each other on vacation and stuff but. . .i mean i'm sure you already knew that, i just. . .wanted to be sure." 

" . . ."

" . . .Sans?" 

" Of COURSE I know that silly! Haha, everyone knows that! You'll have like little Pappy babies with some girl and probably a dog and cat named a terrible feline-related pun." 

Stretch paused a moment, judging the statement. " y-yeah, maybe." he replied, feeling strange suddenly, and a different kind of strange than he had just a few moments ago. " . . .um, so, how was your sleepover last night?"

" F-fine! Speaking of that, Pap-pap is calling! I have to go!" 

" uh, ok? um, bye."

" Bye!" Sans hung up and Stretch lowered his phone with a frown. Uh, he guessed that went fine? He felt weird about it though, ugh, what a surprise. He was tired of always being, or feeling like the weird kid. He was going to smoke. 

Rainbow colored pills in a skeletal hand. Big blue eyes staring down at them. H-he shouldn't. B-but if Pappy could do weed, then, what was the harm? He shakily threw them back in his mouth and swallowed them down with nothing but his spit. He pressed his weight into the sides of the sink, staring down into the mirror at his sweating bone. Twitching frown. Harsh breathing. He felt the sudden urge to vomit. He gagged, going over to the toilet, feeling himself begin to reject the medicine. Magic medicine. Bad idea. He wretched and wretched, till he was dizzy. Mood-stabilizers- daddy's. Blue struggled with his phone, pulling it out and fumbling through his contacts another wave of vomit emerging from his throat. Bad idea. Bad idea. He needed someone to take him to the doctor. 

A skeletal hand picked up a phone, brand new. Looking with confusion at the message. A smirk grew up across his pointed teeth.


	22. Closeness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I update every Sat-Sun! Eastern time, USA. Feel free to leave me a comment saying what you think! <3

Blue coughed quietly, sitting on the closed seat of the toilet. He looked to the larger skeleton in the room shyly. Spinning the bottle in his hand, so he could observe the label, the skeleton who looked like his brother responded, " Xenon tablets, 88% concentration." He looked over at Blue with a bemused expression.

" You know usually if monsters start pill-popping they start with something mild, like, I don't know, Child's Advil?" He wore an easy-going grin. Blue kept his arms folded over his chest, coughing a bit more. 

" Whatever, Edge, I wasn't-" Cough. " -doing that." 

Edge rolled his eyes and replied, " Your text said you had downed your daddy's.” Edge's high, sharp voice floated over that word playfully. " Taking prescription pills that weren't yours, what would you define that as then?" 

Blue stared at him with a frown, rubbing at his arms. He felt his sockets gloss over as he looked to the floor. He had no idea what Edge gave him to stop his reaction, Edge called it a 'stabilizer pocket', it tasted like battery acid and a bitter, drying sea salt. When Blue ingested it, willing to do just about anything to end his body's violate expulsion, for a moment, it seemed to only make it worse. But then slowly, his body soaked in the contents of whatever was in the edible package; calming it. He had stopped vomiting into the toilet which was nice and then after a while it stopped his erratic shaking. He quivered at the memory. At least it was over now. 

" I don't know, just please don't tell my dad!" Blue pleaded, looking up sadly, " It was a moment of madness! Just a mistake! I'll never do it again!" 

Edge smiled smoothly, sitting down on the side of the white bathtub's wall. " Well, sure, I won't tell your Papa," Blue looked to him with wide blinking eyes, " IF you tell me what caused your little freak-out. I know you don't do drugs, probably never before in your life, which explains why you're experience was anything but pleasurable, not to mention Xenon isn't really a drug that gives a great high. In fact, in most monsters, if they take too much, it just makes them irritable." Blue drew back into himself meekly. " H-how do you know all that? W-why did you have that packet on you?" he asked in grasping confusion. " How did you even know I-"

" My guess is you texted the wrong Papyrus." Edge replied with a glinting smirk in the bathroom's strong light. Blue frowned, reaching over and down for his phone he had thrown on the floor after he shot off his cry for help. He picked it up and opened his messages, sure enough he had accidentally texted Papyrus(Edge) Gaster instead of Papyrus(Pap-pap) Gaster. He looked up warily and Edge bragged, " You're honestly lucky I got it instead of him, that idiot would have called a doctor, or maybe even the ER, and then it would undoubtedly have slipped out good-boy Blue is actually a thief." 

" I'm not a thief!" Blue squeaked and Edge chuckled, " Yeah, well it matters more what people think than what actually is. So you wanna spill or not? Cause I can just wait outside the door till your weird ass dad gets home."

Blue scowled at him, " It's-it's not really your business, Edge. It's private."

" Oh, come on," Edge replied, almost playfully, " you clearly have something you want to get off your chest." He leaned forward, leaning his elbows into his leather-clad knees. " Tell me what's up." Blue frowned, feeling at his blue handkerchief nervously. H-he did kind of want to tell somebody, I mean clearly he couldn't just do. . .that, every time he felt distressed over it. Ugh, he felt so ashamed. All his lecturing over how drugs were dangerous and then him taking prescription pills irresponsibly. 

He did want to confide in someone, and honestly, he was. . .kinda glad he had accidentally texted Edge instead of Pap-pap too. This would, he wouldn't want Pap-pap to have to see him like this, and, there was no way he could have told Pap-pap this either. . .

" Ok, but i-in return you won't tell my dad, right?" Blue questioned anxiously. Edge nodded, " Yup, my teeth will be sealed." moving his finger across them. Edge didn't think he would end up telling Blue's dad, but the information was nice to have. He never knew when he might need a favor. 

Exhaling, Blue said, " Good." He placed his hands stiffly on his knees, sitting up erectly. He looked over at Edge to see his neighbor watching him closely. Edge looked like a Goliath perched upon the narrow bathtub wall, his bulky leather jacket and heavy boots added to the large presence he possessed. It wasn't easy to say this, and certainly wasn't made any easier by the fact Edge looked like Pappy, but Blue knew he had to do it! He just had to rip it off like a band-aid!

" I. . ." His blue eyes found the floor, " I was talking to my brother, Pappy, and he just told me some stuff about our future and by that I mean his future and my future and. . .it upset me, I guess." Blue shrugged, leaning back on the toilet some, " Mostly because I'm selfish. Ugh, I really am so embarrassed by myself."

Edge sat up some with interest, " What future things did Stretch talk about?" Blue glanced over with a small frown, " Well. . ." he began, " Have you ever felt close to your brother, Edge? Like really close to him?" Edge considered this but said nothing, him and Red's relationship was. . .complicated. But yes, he supposed sometimes he did feel. . .close to him. His mind thought of their sexual intercourse, he had DEFINITELY felt close there, couldn't really physically get any closer than being inside each other. But he was sure that WASN'T how Blue meant it, the sentimental nerd was probably talking about emotional 'closeness' and Edge supposed he had felt that too. Not in the way he was sure Blue and that idiot look-alike neighbor of his did, but he had, in his own family's way. The feeling that someone had your back, they'd bail you out of trouble. He'd felt that. Sans had made him feel that before. Of course, Sans had also made him feel very alone. He was temperamental, just like Edge was, but Edge liked to hope, secretly and unmentionably of course, that they were close even when he felt alone. Because maybe they loved each other through the thick and thins or something stupid and gushy like that. 

Edge nodded seriously after a long moment and Blue nodded back, " Well, I. . .I have always felt that way. Pappy just, is awesome! He's my little brother! I-I want to protect him from the whole world!" Blue pronounced from his spot on the toilet seat, " I adore everything about him and have had by far the best moments of my life with him! I. . .I don't want anyone else." 

" In what way?" Edge asked and Blue looked at him and repeated, " In what way?" cocking his head to the side. Edge nodded with a calm expression, " Yeah, you sound like you want to make love to him."

" Well, of course I want to make love to him!" Blue retorted with passion and Edge blushed, a little shocked at Blueberry's bluntness. " He's amazing! I make love to him everyday!"

Edge blinked widely, " Uhh?"

" Isn't that the point of a family-relationship to 'make love'? To create more kindness and invent new joys!" Blue asked with wide, fervorous eyes. Edge blinked once more and then chuckled loudly, slapping his knee in disbelief. 

" SORRY, I figured you would know what that means, I forgot you were a total cherry-beta." 

Blue blinked at him confusion but scowled unhappily, knowing Edge had probably just said something rude to him but not understanding what it meant. Edge was a bully. He was always mean to him and Pap-pap in school, sometimes to Pappy too, which made Blue angrier than anything. It made him wonder why he was even talking to him about this stuff. Am I really that desperate? he wondered dryly. 

Edge smirked boldly as he explained, " To 'Make Love' is a euphemism for sex." Blue blinked widely, soaking this up for a long moment. Then he blushed hysterically brightly and jumped up. " Oh my stars! H-how lewd! H-how could you make me say something like that?! M-me and P-Pappy don't have s-s-THAT!" Ugh!!! Blue was so embarrassed! How could Edge even talk about such things?! Blue took a fast step towards the door to leave. Pappy was so sweet, there was no way he-!

Edge jumped up and slammed a loud hand against the door, making Blue flinch. Edge came and slid up against it, blocking Blueberry's path. Edge wore a devious grin now, " Are you really going to claim that you've never thought about it though?" 

Blue stepped back towards the bathroom skin, not liking how close they were; blushing bright blue. " O-of course not, Edge! Let me go!" 

Edge stepped over and Blue gave a gasp as a large leather-gloved hand curled over the side of his skull faintly. Edge holding his other hand on the opposite side of Blue's body, pressed to the sink's granite, keeping him here. 

" Don't lie to me." Edge whispered lowly, teeth brushing Sans' bone making him shudder. " You love your little brother, don't you? You love him so much. In a nasty way, don't ya, Blue?"

Blue's soul was beginning to pound as Edge's hand, that was trailing along his skull, dropped down to his neck, slowly pushing the blue concealing fabric of his handkerchief aside. 

" What did Pappy say to you? To upset you? He's your baby, your brother, who does he think he is? You just want to protect him, that and get into bed with him." Edge said the end of the phrase so quietly, Blue wouldn't have been able to hear if Edge's teeth hadn't been pressed fully to the side of his head. 

" What a lewd older brother, what a delinquent, how dangerous, how dirty." Blue had himself begun to shake, air being stolen from him, he wasn't sure what was happening. Edge's large body kept him from moving, pressed against him strongly. " You're dirty. . .aren't ya, Blue?" Edge was smirking widely, he let his already summoned tongue come and lick the side of the bone his mouth was pressed to, fingers roaming over Blue's neck vertebrae massagingly. 

Blue gave a shriek as the moist organ brushed along his head. " Eeeck! Edge! Stop!" He shoved the larger boy away from him and Edge let himself be pushed. Blue was now blushing even more so than he was so before! " What the heck?!" he exclaimed angrily, wiping at his skull with a hand, trying to get the wetness off! His cheekbones were flustered and frown defiant. 

Edge chuckled, slipping his hands in his tight leather pockets. " Sorry, you just looked so cute I couldn't resist." 

" LICKING ME?! Couldn't resist LICKING ME?!" Blue exclaimed and Edge's sharp sockets and expressive mouth commented, " Still I didn't know we were so similar." He put a hand to his lower jaw thoughtfully. Maybe I can use him, Edge thought seriously.

" You IGNORED my question!" Blue protested, stamping one blue boot strongly, and Edge replied, " Tell me Blue, with Stretch, what do you 'want'?" 

" Want?" Blue questioned, straightening his handkerchief and starting to calm down. 

" Yeah, clearly you're passionate about him, whatever he told you about the future upset you so much you turned to pill-popping as a way to make your own distress go away." Blue nodded sadly. 

" But who says, what he claims is set in stone." Edge put on his most confident villain, attempting to convince a hero to the dark side, voice; smooth as a snake. " You're the master of your own destiny, Blue! You can change the future! Mold it into whatever you want!" Blue watched him carefully, dazzling blue eyes transfixed. " We, together, we can change Stretch's mind."

" W-we can?" Blue asked, " B-but how?" He stepped forward curiously. 

Edge smirked, perfect, he had him eating out of the palm of his hand. " Well," Edge straightened up tall like an army commander, lacing his hands behind his back, " I know a thing or two about relationships and I know, that when we've been around someone for a long time, we take them for granted." 

" Granted?" Blue questioned anxiously. Did Pappy take him for granted? Is that why he behaved so weirdly over Thanksgiving break? Is that why he was suddenly talking strangely about the future? 

" Yes, granted. He doesn't appreciate you, Blue! He doesn't know how good he has it! All your love and attention! He doesn't know what it's like to be without it," Edge quieted the passion in his tone, looking at Blue in the eye, " if he did, he would be crawling back to you. BEGGING you to stay with him. To attend to him. To love him." Blue blushed with hope. He linked his hands together in front of his rib cage, " Y-you really think so?"

Edge nodded confidently, " I know so."

Blue smiled. Y-yeah, E-Edge was right. He. . .he was the Magnificent Sans! And he could change Pappy's mind! Papyrus didn't know what he really wanted, he was so young, Blue would show him that a life with him would be better than any wife, kids, badly named cat or dog. He would become the BEST! The BEST skeleton he could possibly be! And then Pappy would change his mind! He'd see! Blue just knew he would! No more sad feelings, no more hypocritical pill-ingestion; just a solution to his problem! 

" O-ok!" Blue exclaimed, " How do I get him not to take me for granted? What do I do, Edge? I'm ready!" He smiled widely and Edge thought, wow, that was fast. Well, he supposed desperate monsters were willing to convince themselves of some rather. . .unusual things.

" Perfect, alright, first, we make you 'unavailable'." Edge exclaimed, wishing he had a whiteboard with a marker so he could point to the first item on his master plan.

" Unavailable?" Blue questioned and Edge nodded proudly. This plan was perfect! Perfect for him! 

" Yes, we need to make Stretch think, at least for now, that he CANNOT have you. This, in the long run, will make him come around to you. Monsters always want what they cannot get." 

Blue nodded, " O-ok." He was pretty sure he understood. " And how do we do that?" 

Edge smiled, placing a hand on his hip. " For now we hook you up with somebody else. We'll put you in a relationship with someone else." 

Blue blinked widely, " B-but I don't love anybody else." he informed quietly, sockets disheartened. 

" No, I know you don't. That's why it's pretend. A pretend romance. Like actors and actresses in a movie." 

" A fake relationship?" Blue asked and Edge nodded, smirking. Blue thought it over. After a moment, he replied, " But. . .isn't that dishonest?”

" Honey," Edge leaned down, placing a hand on Blue's shoulder, looking directly into his eyes, " when Stretch is in your arms, praising you, honesty is going to be the last worry on your mind." 

Blue looked at him and weighed it. Weighed his options. He decided he had to do this. He didn't have a better plan. And life wouldn't change by just sitting around, by just waiting for 'next year', life was right now! And if it got away from you, then shame on yourself!

" Ok, I'm in." Edge smiled. Blue then asked, " So who could we convince to be in a fake relationship with me?" 

Edge's smirk grew up the sides, " Oh, they're closer than you think."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	23. Credits

Ras looked to the broad female monster through the side mirror of the car. He hesitated a moment, deciding whether now was a good moment or not. Then he straightened up and clicked the radio off, turning to her in his shotgun seat. She glanced to him and he began to say, clearly and straightly, " I don't need help. If Gaster put you-"

" Sans." She cut him off with a clawed hand, turning around a corner leisurely in one of The Queen's sleek SUV's. " This has nothing to do with the 'Doctor'." She said the name with a bit of contempt, her dark eyes looking out the windshield, " This has to do with you."

Sans scowled, " Is this about Chen? So I roughed her up a little, what's wrong with that? She deserved it." 

Alphys gave him a dry, disapproving look, their car rolling down the street; compact with buildings of gray on either side. " Roughed her up? A little?” Alphys glared at him with a frown, “ Sans, you broke her leg." 

Sans shrugged, leaning back in his seat, crossing his legs. " She deserved it and I struck fear into her, Alphys; sent a message. Notice none of the other girls have missed their quota in over a month." He smirked and she scowled at him. He kicked up his shiny boots on the dashboard, " You've got to break a few eggs to make an omelet."

She shook her head with disapproval as she pulled into the mostly empty parking garage. " Sans. You can be so thick-headed." He frowned at her. Thick-headed? That was her, not him. 

" She went to the hospital.” Alphys reminded, staring forward, “ You think they don't ask questions? I had to pull strings to get a human there to explain things to the doctors. A few more of your damn cracked eggs and we might end up with a messy ruined breakfast." 

Sans chuckled, amused by the metaphor, " Scared to spill some yolk, Captain?" 

Captain was Alphys’ codename. If talking on a phone or in any kind of message, they were supposed to use that to refer to her. 

She pulled the car into a parking spot and turned the engine off. She stared at him seriously, " I'm not. You know that, Mr. Makeup." Sans' smile dropped in favor of something annoyed. Alphys grabbed onto her door handle and explained, " I'm just here to show you, again," she added with a perturbed frown, " what proper protocol is for dealing with a girl like this." 

Sans rolled his eyes lights with a scowl as he opened up his door and hopped out. What a nuisance, he thought bitterly. He then spotted her from across the garage. Surrounded in gray, was a woman in black leggings and a low-cut, sultry, baby pink dress, plunging down and showing off her cleavage. She had long dark hair, an eye that was still puffy from healing, tired eyes, and had a crutch under her left arm. Sans couldn't help but be proud of his handiwork, that bitch had said she'd have the money. And he hated liars. 

He started over and Alphys came up beside him, having to work to stay beside him with his overeager pace. She stared dryly at the skeleton's smirk, he was sizing up the human woman, she could tell. He was overzealous by anyone’s view, he looked like a child to Alphys, someone experimenting with their power and delighted when their toy truck broke into colorful fragments. Hopefully one day, he'd realize the toy was only functional with all of its four wheels. 

The human woman looked with wary to Alphys and shrunk back physically from Sans. The muscular lizard creature and undead monstrosity stopped across from her and Sans said, in sharp but harsh Chinese, " Do you have what I need, you dumb slut? Or would you like another beating instead?" He stepped forward aggressively and the woman shuddered, hating the way her native language sounded dark and butchered on his tongue. His dark sockets held wicked blue orbs with black etched stars like something from a pentagram. The creature was something from a truly terrible dream. 

Alphys sighed silently, he had NO subtly, did he? No wonder all the girls, and basically everyone else, hated him. 

She had to correct him carefully, she couldn't let the woman sense any enmity between them. 

" Chen, we're here to collect our monthly cut." The woman to look to her with an exhausted frown, " I know, but I-"

" You what?! Couldn't get enough dick between your legs in over four weeks?!” Sans snapped viciously, “ I set up the clients for you! How lazy are you?!" Alphys could have facepalmed. 

The woman shrunk down and looked to a corner of the garage. Alphys noticed it and took note that it was somewhat strange. 

" I-I am sorry, I-I had to pay a portion of the medical bills, I need to put food on the table, I need-"

" What you NEED is two working legs, so I suggest you hand us over the cash or they might just get damaged irreversibly this time." Sans cracked his neck ominously. Chen shuddered and went to open the cheap looking purse, with a hole in it, slung over her shoulder. " I-I'll give you what I have.” She began to dig through her purse; Sans snarled, " Give me that!" and reached forward, pulling it from her hands and then over her head, with a bit of ducking and struggling from the woman. 

Chen's dark eyes went to the corner of the garage for just a second. Alphys stiffened. Her strong tail whipped in discontent. That was twice now. She glanced out of corner of her eye to the corner of the garage in which Chen had looked. There was a red parked car. Dark. No one appeared to be inside. 

Sans was throwing things, the woman was shrunken down, Alphys was thinking. Used lipsticks and old coupons hit the cement ground around them. " Useless!" Sans snarled, there couldn't be more than a hundred dollars in here. He was tired of being made a FOOL OF! They should just kill her! That would send a message. Forget a month of obedient whores, he'd get a year! This wasn't HER money, this was the money that kept HIS lights on and HIS water running; the money that kept that goat man in his house watching HIS little brother! He stepped forward and landed a harsh punch to her gut, she gave a breathless cry as she fell back, a yelp occurring from the fall.

" Please!" she begged, drawing her limbs close to herself, staying on the ground, " I-I'll get the money!" Sans drew his gun and Alphys was snapped back to the present moment away from her musing about the suspicious car. She reached forward and then clenched her hand in frustration. SHE was tempted to use her own gun! To stop this Stars-damn idiot! 

She had escorted him to stop this very behavior! Pimping girls wasn’t JUST about striking fear into them, bullying them, you needed to make sure they stayed in line; they needed to know they couldn’t push you, but they were your business associate, in a way. Similar to the way Sans and Alphys were. Alphys had to discipline Sans, because he was. . .well, like this; but he was so much more useful alive than dead, same went for serious injuries. She COULD break an leg or arm while they fought, and it’d feel good too, but it would be ultimately defeating to her purpose, which was for Sans to do his work as properly and professionally and efficiently as possible while still maintaining her control over him in the chain of command. She was trying to teach him that that was the proper way to deal with the whores they worked with, though with his current behavior, she was convinced it would be easier to teach a snarling, rabid chihuahua to jump hurdles. 

" Not necessary, Sans." Alphys spat in English. " Put the gun away." The woman was beginning to cry, " Pl-please! No! I-I-oh God!"

Sans looked at his boss with a hard look and Alphys took a step towards Sans, she didn't think the woman would read into it too much considering. . .other stimuli. She grabbed Sans' arm tightly with her clawed stout hand and squeezed it to a point where Sans felt pain race into it. 

" I will beat you black and blue, Sans. Put the gun down." Alphys threatened with sharp eyes, burning like a poker digging into cold flesh. 

Sans wanted to shoot, to stick it to Alphys, to destroy this woman, but he was still sore from him and Alphys’ last tussle. He hated everything about their fights, the aching bones, the visible bruises, waking up in the infirmary to that wretched groping fish woman. It wasn't the pain he despised as much as the humiliation. He HATED that she could-COULD make true on her claims. She could beat him black and blue or red or any other color. He ignored it best he could, suppressed it down, but when the others passed him in the hallway and they smiled-he knew why. They were smiling cause they KNEW he had lost; knew he was a loser. And that was something he just couldn't stand. Nevertheless, nothing had changed since yesterday and if he fought Alphys again today, he would only lose again. So for now. . .he’d try and play nice.

He lowered the gun and spat in Chinese, " You best have the money next time or I'll blow your stupid brain out your thick skull!" 

The woman wept somehow more harshly as he put the gun back in his jacket. " You suck." he commented in English to Alphys and Alphys held onto his arm harshly and started to drag him back towards the car. 

" And you're the most annoying bastard on the planet. Listen to me," Alphys stared at him sharply, the white leather of her top brushing against his leather jacket, " see that red car in the corner?" Sans looked to it, a Honda Civic? " Don't look at it." she hissed and he pulled his head forward to their own car. " I have a bad feeling about it, it's positioned only a few feet from a concrete pillar adjacent to our ride." 

Sans frowned as he realized that would give a gunman a clear shoot of their car. " What do you want me to do?" Sans asked quietly, eyes on their car, but soul beginning to race, sweat beginning to form along bone. Were they under attack?

" I want you to walk to your side of the car, then press your back against the side, don't put your head or any part of your body in front of the window. Sans nodded, trying to keep his cool. " Get your gun out and follow my lead. Don't do anything stupid." 

Their steps stretched for vulnerable miles to the SUV. Sans felt the thrill and fear twist and tighten his core. They reached it-Sans whipped around his side, pulling out his gun, Alphys pressed her back up against a support pillar near her door. The pillar near the red car would have a clear shot of her driver's side window. If it was someone here to kill her, they'd have a good shot there. Sans' soul pounded in his scarred ribs, he whipped his head out. Alphys had her handgun pressed to her chest, flipping the safety off. She glanced out, no shots yet. They waited and waited and Sans hissed, " Now?" Alphys hesitated and then nodded, " Now." Her eyes roamed for the whore as Sans approached her side, his eye lights flicking everywhere in search of the enemy. 

The whore was gone from the garage. God damn it. She might have been in on it, whatever it was. Alphys and Sans emerged from behind the pillar, guns out, and Alphys snarled, " If you're there, come out NOW!"

" We'll kill you for messing with us!" Sans mimicked.

Alphys was in too serious a headspace to call him juvenile for that comment. He WAS juvenile. He was 19. 

They continued forward at a cautious pace, Sans throwing glances over their shoulders to make sure they weren't being attacked from behind. No one came out. 

Fast and aggressive as a car crash, Alphys leapt behind the pillar near the red Honda, holding her gun tightly. No one stood there. Sans came after, frame stiff, and he was silent as his eyes roamed from the empty shooting cover, to the mysterious scarlet car. He motioned to it with his head and Alphys nodded. 

They approached the vehicle slowly; no one got out, no door opened, no lights came on. Alphys leaned down and peered inside the passenger’s front window. . . Empty. She didn't like the feeling in her chest. Sans came around the other side. He pulled on the front door after seeing no one was inside. Locked. He looked over the hood to Alphys.

" Should I pick it?" 

Alphys pressed her head to the window. A quiet took the garage like a peace. A bliss. Like a moment of dark in between movie scenes. Between the ending scene and the credits. Between the last impassioned kiss and the white on black text that revealed every frame, every piece of dialogue, every dance and wardrobe choice was undeniably and bluntly fabricated. That the lovers’ love was fake. 

A tick. Alphys' eyes widened. 

" I'm pretty sure I can pick it." 

" SANS! Get away from the car!" Sans looked at her with surprise; denotation. 

The credit words and names exploding up in white letters, scrambling and losing their meaning, gushing and splashing and crashing together like particles of water in a roaring rapid river. 

Ringing. The sound of the love actress' confession. Struggling to get up. The swirling of editing. The blood running into Sans' sockets. The lights coming up. The world skewing on its side. Polite applause from pale hands. A scream shaking the world. Burning. Sans was on fire. Standing up from their chairs, popcorn bowls left behind. Howling. The show was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	24. Narcissistic Neighbors and Creepy Cars

Birds flew overhead. Chirping as the sun still rose. The well-paved, spacious streets and sidewalks of the Snowden suburbs were cast in rising amber light. 

" Good morning, Edge!" a skeleton in tight blue running shorts and a crop top that said 'JOGBOY' across the front of it in blocky, animated text, greeted. He was jogging up along the sidewalk, beads of glistening sweat absorbing into his orange sweatband. He waved to his neighbor, smiling.

God, the sun was in his eyes. The birdsong grated in his ears like claws on a chalkboard. The weather was awful, too cold for short sleeves yet too hot for his favorite leather jacket. Even the skeleton's favorite red scarf lay abandoned on his driveway beside his opened toolbox because of the uncooperative weather. He wore a black long-sleeve shirt over his tight dark wash jeans, rips running over the knees. He glanced with distaste at his friendly neighbor from his spot on the ground beside his slashed tire.

" You look like an 80's film but gayer!" he spat with a scowl and Papyrus Classic blinked widely at him as he approached the driveway. The 80s? Happier? He smiled. 

" Thanks, Edge!" he called as he ran past, Edge growling, " It wasn't a compliment!" after him. Edge sighed, leaning down and beginning to loosen the lug nuts on his first tire with the shining silver lug wrench he had got for Christmas last year. From himself of course. According to his sick family, the only thing Christmas was for, was a time to put horrible gunk inside one another's stockings, and be forced to sit around a table for dinner that always involved more bickering, and sometimes yelling, depending on bad the gunk was, than eating. It was awful, Edge wondered why their father even bothered to set up their bare-bone, itchy feeling, fake tree in the living room each year. 

Papyrus passed by Edge's house was glad Edge was being nice today! Usually he was a total grump! Papyrus took a deep whiff of the outdoor air and was glad he had made an effort to come out and run this morning. He thought jogging was a great way to start any day! He tried to do it everyday but sometimes he was too tired, between work shifts at Muffet's and his college work and socializing! And Sans and his father always reminded, 'Don't overexert yourself, my son, bro.' and he tried not to! He went to bed at nine pm sharp every night! But. . .sometimes he was still tired. 

Regardless of all that, Papyrus still found exercise to be a great way to start the day! That reminded him, he had to call Undyne and finalize their training plans for today! He was friends with Captain Undyne! Head of the Home and Waterfall police department!!! She was SO COOL! She was also one of Pap's only friends, along with Blue of course. Speak of the mischievous but lovable devil, Pap ran by Blue's quant house and well-manicured lawn. Pap blinked in surprise. The house was dark and the yard was quiet and still. Usually Blue was out at this time, watering the flowers or taking in the trash cans, or sweeping the porch. Strange.

Papyrus' attention changed as his red running shoes continued hitting the pavement, his vision bouncing and bones burning invigoratingly. He preferred his red boots but Undyne said boots weren't always the best for long runs. Pap thought it was strange then that police officers always wore boots, weren't they always chasing after the bad guys? 

His eyes watched with curiosity as the gray, beat-up looking car rolled beside him down the road. It's windows were tinted so he wouldn’t be able to see inside the vehicle even if the morning sun wasn't shining off them. It rolled beside him slowly for a moment and Pap gave a wave. The car moved on and he wanted to know who was driving around Snowdin so early! He had already seen the car a few times as he circled the neighborhood. 

He continued his jog, thinking idly and optimistically about the day to come. He couldn't wait to have lunch with Sans today at Grillby's. He wasn't a fan of Grillby's really, the food was too greasy for his taste, though their milkshakes were admittedly tasty, but he was a fan of his brother! And having lunch with him was always something Papyrus both looked forward too and made extra effort not to miss. With his busy schedule it was one of the only guaranteed times a day he could see Sans, other than before bedtime when Sans usually read him his bedtime story. He wished they could spend breakfast together but heh, Sans ALWAYS slept till at least eleven or sometimes noon. Papyrus looped around the neighborhood and eventually started back down Snowpoff St. 

Edge paused, new tire in hand as he stared off to the street. Narrowing his sockets suspiciously at the gray car with tinted windows. That car. . .it was weird in a bad way. He looked back to his truck's wheel, scowling slightly. He had decided to do the repairs himself since the shop's prices were ridiculous. That and he could get some killer deals on parts the reputable auto shop would definitely not have in their inventory. And he had plenty of time on his hands, Undyne said he should lie low for a while till Muffet moved on to somebody else to persecute for her stolen funds. He heard the sounds of foot-beats approaching from the sidewalk. He glanced over and his dork of a neighbor waved to him again, smiling happily. Edge rolled his eyes bitterly. 

Watching with unease, Edge realized he couldn't ignore it now. The car had come by again. He was starting to get paranoid. Someone had followed him home, hadn't they? One of Muffet's men? Her horde of servant spiders? It could be anyone behind that darkened glass. He was trying to pretend as if he didn't notice, but his eyes glued to the front windows as it rolled by once again. As it disappeared around the corner once again, he walked to the end of his driveway and glared after it. He felt the urge to go get his gun, he'd need it if they were here for him. He wouldn't hide. They wanted him? They could come get him. 

Classic Papyrus slowed, now breathing somewhat hard; slick from his running. Edge was in his way, peering off down the street. " Excuse me, Edge!" he called cheerfully, " I'm coming through here!" Edge looked to him critically, not moving from Papyrus' path and forcing the colorfully dressed skeleton to stop. Papyrus asked with concern, " Something wrong, friend?" Edge looked quite serious.

" That car. How many times have you seen it loop this block?" 

Papyrus asked with a tired but well-meaning smile, " The gray one with the dents?" taking a deep breath every few words. 

Edge scowled, holding stiffly still for a moment, " . . .Yes." Edge had to hold himself back from snapping. What other car would he be talking about?! Ugh, his look-alike was so slow. 

" I don't know, like ten or twelve times?" Papyrus answered innocently, still a bit out of breath.

" Ten or twelve?!" Edge exclaimed, that was more than he had even dared suspect. That wasn't a hitman, that was-was just bizarre! If it was a trained hitman, wouldn't they know better than to give away their presence at all?! This stank of fish!

" H-how long have you been out here?!" he inquired and Papyrus paused before answering, " Twenty-thirty minutes, I think. Why, Edge? Do you know who's in the car? Friends of yours?"

" No, they're not friends of mine!" Edge snapped quickly, voice fast like a rubber band being pulled around a thumb. Papyrus shrunk back slightly and said, " Oh. . ." quietly. Papyrus stood awkwardly for a second, wondering if there was a way he could politely ask Edge to move. He saw Edge was watching the street. 

" Perhaps they're lost, we could offer them directions!" he suggested happily. Edge glowered at him, " Yeah, no." He turned and went back to his truck, he had popped his glock in the glove compartment temporarily. He worried a little about his address getting out. His dad lived here. Sans stayed here on breaks. He didn't want either of them to get hurt; they were the worst, but they were his worst, or something lame like that, he didn't want to see them injured because of him. 

Papyrus' eyes followed Edge for a moment as he went back his jacked up truck. Papyrus noticed Edge was making repairs, the windshield was smashed and the sides damaged. His neighbor appeared to be changing the tires. He frowned. Did Edge get into an accident? Was he ok? 

" What happened to your truck?" he asked with a small frown. Edge didn't even glance over his shoulder, " What happened to your phone?" 

Papyrus paused and then looked downtrodden as he said, " You told me to put it in cooking rice and I did." Edge gave a helpless laugh, holding out an arm and pressing it against the hood of his car. He looked back and commented, " WOW, you're an even bigger dork than I thought, even I didn't think you'd fall for that." Papyrus scowled at Edge’s satisfacted smirk and retorted, " I'm not a dork! And you shouldn't have lied to me, Edge! That's not very kind." Edge shrugged, still not really believing his lie had worked. 

" Whatever." Edge replied as he pulled open his passenger door and popped open the black glove box. Papyrus stared at him poutingly for a moment, then his eyes looked up the street to see that the car had parked across the street from Blue's house. 

" Oh, maybe they’re Blue's friends!" he exclaimed and Edge shoved his M1911 into his pants, tucking his shirt over it to make it less obvious. He had a place for it to hang in his jacket but he had left it inside. Who was the dork talking about? 

" I'm going to say hi!" Papyrus informed and Edge paused a moment before saying, " Hey, wait-" looking from the interior of his car to the end of his driveway. His sockets widened and his head pivoted to see Papyrus jogging up the street, Edge cussed under his breath. " Idiot." 

Papyrus approached the tinted window of the passenger side, Edge was jogging up behind him, eyeing the car suspiciously. Pap knocked on the window with a small smile, able to see his calm reflection in the glass. " Good morning, neighbor! Can I help you with anything?" he pronounced happily. Edge was jogging across the street to stand beside him. 

The two women inside were freaking out. " Oh my god, Bratty! He's talking to me!" a fuller cat woman with dark hair and purple fur exclaimed with distress. She had a string of piercings along both of her cat ears and long lashes above her yellow, large eyes. 

Her friend, a green-skinned alligator woman, skinny and tall, with blood red lipstick on the end of her snout and blond hair pulled tight in pigtails, replied with stress, " J-just stay calm! Let's just like figure out why he's here! A-and then we c-can try to find his brother!" 

Catty, the feline monster, took a deep breath, " Ok! Ok!" She turned to roll down her window and she got another good look at Papyrus; waiting patiently with big sockets and a warm grin. 

" Eeeck! No!" she exclaimed back to her friend, ears pinning down in fear! " He's going to kill me!"

" Like relax, gurl," Bratty, her reptilian colleague in the driver's seat, replied, " all our sources say he's not a part of The Queen network, he's a total, like, normal." 

Catty looked at her with fear in her eyes, grabbing onto the armrest dramatically, " But SENTRY SANS is his BROTHER! You like really think this guy doesn't know how to kill monsters?! He's going to know we're here to like totally kill his brother and have the king make us like totally stinkin' rich!" 

Bratty grabbed her friend's shoulders, " I saw what you did at that party! You talked to him then, right??? He didn't seem like, I don't know, a total psycho then, right?" 

" No," Catty replied honestly, " just a kid who was drunk." 

" Exactly!" Bratty exclaimed, " I saw him walk right up to us, you seduced him just like a champ! I know how brave you are, bestie! So go and say hi! We need to know where Sans is!" 

Catty took some fast, deep breaths, " Ok-ok, I can like do this!" 

" Like totally!" Bratty cheered. Catty turned to roll down the window.

Edge stood beside Papyrus in awkward silence. " Is anyone even in there?" he asked dryly; Pap shrugged, " I don't know, I could have sworn-"

The window rolled down, both to their slight surprise. They saw Catty peeking her head out, in a pair of black overalls that hung low on her bust. A girl? Edge thought. He was relieved he didn't recognize her and also relieved by the fact she wasn't a live mass of poisonous spiders able to operate an automobile. 

" Hi, Papyrus," the Cat women greeted with a smooth tone, looking to Classic Pap, she didn't know who the scary looking guy, who looked like him, was. Was he a twin? Or maybe a cousin or something? 

" So like, what's up?" She flicked a playful finger out and brushed against his ribs, Classic Papyrus had leaned down again slightly to better see her. " I've missed you since the party, sorry things ended the way they did, I was like SO busy." she cooed. She still thought it was weird he was here, he was in New Home less than a few days ago! 

" Nyeh heh heh! No problem!" Papyrus replied, standing up straight. He had no idea what party she was talking about! 

Edge stared at Papyrus with surprise, HE went to a party? The edgier skeleton felt a bit of jealousy. HE hadn't been invited to any party. Papyrus was a loser, he didn't have any friends! Who would be inviting HIM to a party?

Catty smiled in relief, " Cool, so like I was totally thinking we should hang out again; me, you, and your brother." She leaned out of the window a little bit and whispered with a sneaky tone, " My best friend like totally has a thing for him." Bratty giggled in the car, drawing some attention to herself. 

" Oh wowie!" Papyrus exclaimed. Edge looked to him in confusion, wait was this GIRL asking this total and complete GEEK out on a DATE?! 

" My brother would love to have a 'thing' with her I'm sure! Hanging out sounds really fun!" Classic Pap chirped. Catty smiled, wow! This was going better than expected.

" Like totally wicked! Is he home right now?" 

" Yeah, but he's asleep. That lazybones doesn't get up till like noon!" 

Edge looked between the two, feeling a little out of the loop. If Pap knew these girls, why didn't he recognize their car? Why had Pap asked if they were HIS friends? Although it sounded like they had met at a party, maybe he really HAD never seen their car. Maybe they weren't really sure where he lived either because of that. This was surprisingly checking out. Well this was good, although it was still stupid. He would much rather have his idiot neighbor have a stroke of good luck with some ladies than have someone be here to kill him. 

" Oh, ok! How about we meet up for drinks?" Catty suggested, reaching down into the glove compartment, which made Edge a little nervous, before she returned with a small pad of paper and a pen, which she scribbled an address onto. 

" There is this like totally wicked cheap place in Home we know, you should like definitely meet us there. You and Sans." Catty winked and Edge thought he was going to throw up as Papyrus took the piece of paper. " Alright! Sounds fun! We'll be there!" Pap chirped.

" Awesome! Like, see you later!" The car rolled away as Catty rolled up the window, Catty and Bratty already starting to chatter excitedly inside.

Edge watched them with almost concern as they drove away and Papyrus looked at the piece of paper with a smile. Wow! New friends! He rarely got monsters so willing to give his friendship a go! He always tried to make new friends, but most of them were always busy doing something else. I mean they always seemed to walk in the other direction when he walked up to them, so that had to be it, right? 

Edge crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Papyrus with a scowl. " YOU are going for 'drinks'?" He looked judgmental, " Do you even know what that means?" 

Papyrus looked slightly offended, holding the piece of paper in front of his chest. " Of course I do! I've been drinking since I was a baby! Everyone knows how to do that!" 

Edge blinked at him widely for a moment and then realized the idiot was NOT talking about alcohol. " No, you moron! Not 'drinking' as in drinking from a fucking baby bottle! She was inviting you to a bar!" He snatched the paper from Pap and read the address. 

" Hey!" Papyrus protested as he attempted to snatch it back, " That's mine, Edge!" Edge shoved a hand onto Papyrus' face pushing him away and muffling his protests. 

Frogit's Place? Frogit's Place? Holy shit, Edge knew that place! That was one of the seediest bars in Home! He had met clients, and he believed Undyne once, there before! That cat girl invited him to THERE??? He'd get eaten alive! 

Edge released his hand from its spot on Papyrus' face and Papyrus brushed off where it had sat in annoyance. " So what?!" he fought, " You can have fun at a bar and not drink alcohol, me and Sans will just get soda!" The legal drinking age for monsters within Monster Territory was twenty. 

Edge scoffed with a smirk, handing the piece of paper back to him, " Oh yeah, THAT will get you laid." Papyrus scowled, snatching the paper back, " I don't know what that means but I'm angry at you for holding my face!" 

Edge sneered as Papyrus turned, wanting to get away from this bully and return to his run. 

" I honestly can't believe you even KNOW girls as hot as that." Edge commented, meaning it as both a jab and an honest statement, and Papyrus rolled his eyes, " Well I do now, Edge! So leave me alone!" He began to jog off down the road and Edge was snickering to himself for a moment. THAT guy at Frogit's Place? Nursing a hardcore glass of COCA-COLA on the rocks? Ha! 

He turned, shaking his head in amusement, as started to wander back towards his own house. It was then when he thought, wait, 'I do now'. . .what the fuck does that mean?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	25. Pale White Water and Wine

The romantically lit coffee shop was at the corner of RUIN and IVY ST. Sans had been here before, he came every Sunday, and fancied most everything about the quant store. The lush tan of the wallpaper, decorated with small ivory daisies curling and waltzing across the walls. The small, aged ruby candles, at the center of each simple, wooden table, under a pale white dolle. Spice and espresso filled the air and made your head feel warm and your body; relaxed. 

He was sitting across from a woman monster, who wore a soft, blue sweater, buttoned up, over a loose knit, polka dotted dress of the same hue. Her fur was the brightest and cleanest white and looked soft to the touch, so much so if you were tiny, you could sleep in it. Her kind brown eyes were framed by small azul glasses. She was looking down at the small, neatly arranged menu which was tucked into a shiny, brown leather case. Sans leaned forward, placing a calm elbow on the surface of the table, skull wearing an easy-going grin.

“ Tor, ya don’t always have to analyze that menu like it’s a legal document. they’ve got the same stuff they had last week.” She looked up to him with a thoughtful smil,. “ Sans, there’s nothing wrong with taking one’s own time, either.” He chuckled and folded his arms over the table, “ course not, ya know me, i wouldn’t rush if my house was on fire and my car underwater.” She snorted a laugh, face glowing. 

“ How would both those ridiculous things happen at the same time?” She looked back down to the menu with amusement, “ You think at the very least, the flood would cancel out the fire.” Sans grinned as he added, “ guess you’re right, either way though, it wouldn’t be a WATERful situation.” 

The woman laughed again, a messy, honest laugh, Sans thought was quite beautiful actually. “ It wouldn’t be too HOT either.” Toriel replied with amused eyes. Sans snickered quietly, “ too true, Tori, too true.” 

She looked back to the menu and asked, “ Brown Sugar Tart? How on Earth do they manage to make brown sugar tart?” 

Sans chuckled, “ don’t know, guess they’ve got a rather SWEET method though if they’re able to do that.” She looked up with delighted surprise and gave another laugh, “ Oh goodness, Sans, you make me feel like an amateur. You never are at a loss for a pun, are you?” 

Shrugging, but feeling complemented, Sans replied, “ i try my best, but puns are a skill that everyone needs to work at, even me.” The young monster wore a plaid shirt of blue and white over a white t-shirt and over black, loose slacks that didn’t quite fit him right. They were originally for some formal event he was forced to attend, it could have been him and Papyrus’ high school graduation but now he couldn’t remember, maybe a work dinner dad had drug him too. He normally hated wearing anything that wasn’t his favorite, usually unwashed, pair of gym shorts and worn blue hoodie. But Toriel, well, she always dressed so nice, always, heh, looked so nice. So, uh, Sans felt he had to try at least a little bit.

Toriel smiled at the skeleton, with the large, round skull, across from her, “ Well good to know there’s hope for me yet.” She winked. He giggled softly through his teeth. 

The waiter came over, some shy Whimsun in a small server’s uniform, fluttering over the floor meekly with thin, translucent wings. 

“ Hello. . . May I take your orders?” 

Toriel smiled calmly, “ Yes, please, I’ll have a cinnamon scone with a vanilla latte.” The Whimsun nodded sheepishly, and Sans watched with vague concern as he could swear the small pencil shook slightly as it wrote Tori’s order down. He waited patiently until the Whimsun looked to him with its droopy, black eyes. Sans noticed they didn’t quite look at him directly, but more over his shoulder. The whimsun server smelled of lavender and mothballs. 

“ . . .um,” Sans began, “ i’ll have the Viennexican Coffee with the raspberry danish, please.” The waiter fluttered weakly away, scribbling the note down shakily. Sans frowned, was that guy ok? 

“ Viennexican?” Toriell questioned with good spirit, “ How adventurous, Sans.” 

Grinning, Sans replied, “ i can’t lie, you BREW a risk-taking feeling in me.” Toriel chuckled again, blushing, “ Oh goodness, Sans, you are too much.” 

Sans smiled in return. Toriel was a really nice old lady, he had met her a long time ago, by pure chance. He was in Home, waiting at a bus stop, with a green covering and crinkled newspaper scattered around the ground. Ironically he wasn’t actually waiting for the bus, but for his dad. His therapist sometimes let him out early, ah, therapy. He sometimes missed it. 

While a somewhat different story, it was honestly one of the nicest things Sans could describe to you, to just have someone you could spill everything to, with no fear of judgment, of condemnation. At first, he was guarded but that was before he realized the absolute relief that was speaking your dark desires aloud. Your crazy thoughts, inappropriate fantasies, irrational feelings, spilling it felt like a cleansing; a cleansing in which you dipped down into a marble pool of pale white water and emerged sputtering and panting, feeling endlessly renewed. He enjoyed therapy so much by the end of his high school career, it actually got to a point where his therapist said he NEEDED to stop coming. 

“ b-but WHY?” he had fought and his therapist, a calm spider with a voice like stable sand, answered, “ It’s not a punishment, Sans. I am insisting on this because you don’t need me anymore. It’s been over a year since you’ve had any significant flares of your depression. All you consult me on now are normal issues that any teenager has to deal with.” His therapist had explained, “ You are more than capable of dealing with these issues on your own. The goal of therapy is to support you when you are being burdened with more than you can carry, educate you on how to live without the extra help. It is not supposed to be a crutch you use forever. Plus,” Dr. Arachnida added calmly, “ I think you THINK that you can’t do it without me, is that correct?” 

Sans had been more than taken off guard! He didn’t WANT to leave! This was his safe space! Who else was he supposed to talk about this kind of stuff with?! “ b-but i’m not normal, Seta! wh-what about my weird attraction to my bro?! o-or the fact that i have no idea what i want to do with my life?! o-or-”

“ Sans, you've got to trust yourself.” Dr. Seta Arachnida cut in, “ At some point, you need to just ask yourself, am I doing this because I think it will help me? Or am I doing this because I’m scared?. . . Fear can control us in inhibiting ways, Sans. Many, I’d dare say most, young people don’t know exactly what their life will hold.” He continued, “ Your lack of interests outside of. . .your brother, is less unusual than you make it out to be. Your sexual attraction to him does not make you inept or incapable in any way. You are almost eighteen now, Sans. You will be an adult, and I trust you to make responsible decisions worthy of that title. Now,” Dr. Arachnida gestured out one of his small black legs as he spoke, “ the only thing left, is you trusting yourself.” 

And Sans felt he had been doing a good job with that since then, at least he thought he was making a good attempt. He still made choices he considered poor, like stalking Papyrus to the Market the other day, but who didn’t? And sure, he might have feelings towards Papyrus that were more than familial but, he was trying to distract himself. He was trying to do more than sit in his room and watch meme videos for hours. 

And Toriel was one those treasured distractions for him. She made him care about how he looked, how he acted, even how much he ate. He never ordered more than one snack with his coffee when he was with her, which he definitely wouldn’t do with anyone else. 

The green plastic of the separator. He had knocked on it, it was fall then, the air cold. Grinning, the metal bench cold under his butt, he began, “ knock, knock.” He paused with a smile on his lower jaw. ‘Who’s there?’ he imagined in his head.

“ glad you asked.” he had replied to himself with a grin, “ scold.” He paused and then added, “ scold who?” He had chuckled, “ scold enough to go ice-skating out here.” 

He had heard something faint. Like a giggle. Curiously, he began another, “ knock knock. . . who’s there?” he answered himself, changing his deep voice slightly, pitching it up, “ Noah. . .” 

“ . . .Noah who?” He straightened up at a woman’s rich voice that responded, from the other side of the bus station’s seat. 

He grinned as he said, “ Noah a good place we can get something to eat?”

For a few weeks, he looked forward to getting out of therapy early, so he could tell this stranger jokes. Sometimes his mysterious audience was there, sometimes she wasn’t, it had become something he began to seriously appreciate. One day, he was sitting and he was on his phone, he had tried earlier and nobody had answered. But this time, “ . . .Knock knock.” 

He had perked up with a smile on his face, “ who’s there?” he played along happily. 

“ Honey bee!” the lower, but lyrical voice replied, Sans smirked, “ honey bee who?” 

“ Honey bee a dear and go get me a soda!” She began to laugh as if she was very proud of herself, Sans felt his soul endeared. He laughed along with her. 

“ good one.” he complimented through the plastic shield and he could hear her smiling. “ Thank you . . .” 

“ knock knock.” he said after a long moment.

“ Goodness, who’s there?” 

“ Sans.” 

“ . . . Sans who?” 

“ Sans Gaster, humble skeleton who is kinda gettin’ sore knuckles from always knockin’ on your door. maybe we could. . .meet up and. . .” Sans felt his soul racing just a little bit, “ not have a door between us?”

“ . . .” She was quiet such a long time, Sans went to take it back, “ uh, never mind, i shouldn't have-”

“ Ok!” He froze, “ . . .really?” 

“ Yes! Really! Heh, now I feel silly for never attempting to introduce myself. I-I am Toriel, it is a pleasure to meet you, Sans.” Sans smiled, the pleasure was all his. And that was how it all started, and they’d been friends for over a year now. 

“ so, how’s the kiddo doin’?” Sans asked calmly, leaning forward at their coffee shop table. Toriel smiled happily, “ Oh, Frisk is Frisk.” She shook her head with a calm smile, “ A hand full as always.” 

Sans smiled and replied, “ hey, they’re passionate, ya can’t blame them for that.” 

Looking up at Sans, Toriel nodded, “ Other teachers keep telling me some worrying things though.” Her face fell to seriousness, “ They say they haven’t been doing their schoolwork and seems distracted in class.” She sighed and Sans frowned with her. “ I wonder if something is bothering them,” Toriel explained, “ but they won’t open up to me. It can be hard. . .” 

Toriel looked to the brown table and folded her hands tightly on top of it, “ I want them to accept me and they are kind, but they. . .always hold back from me.” Toriel looked guilty in the brown of her eyes, “ I wonder if I’m doing something wrong.” 

Sans looked to her with concerned, serious sockets. “ Tori,” She looked up to him and he said, “ you’re the kindest woman i’ve ever met, and you are so dedicated to Frisk. you’re not doin’ anythin’ wrong, i’m confident. it’s just, change is hard. hard for everybody and Frisk is just dealin’ with it still.” 

Toriel looked at him with quiet distress, “ But it’s almost been two years, Sans. I know how hard change is. People change,” she said with hardness, looking off to window. Her face softened, “ People leave. . .” She paused a moment, “ So, you have to hold onto the monsters you have around you even more so.” She looked to him passionately, “ I’ve put the past behind me, it is too painful, it does me. . .no good.” Sans felt his soul ache for her. Toriel had opened up to him and he knew she had endured more grief than anyone that kind and earnest should ever have to face. If anyone had a right to be bitter and depressed, it was her. 

“ I feel like I’m putting everything I have into now, Sans. I put everything into them. They are my world.” 

“ i know.” 

“ I would do anything to give them a better life.” 

“ i know.” 

“ Is it because I don’t have enough wealth? I’m not located in the right place? M-Maybe I don’t work hard enough. . .” Sans reached across the table and took her hand gently in his. She looked up and she had some tears making her large, lashed, eyes glossy. “ Is it horrible I sometimes worry it was all a mistake?” she asked quietly. Sans shook his head no gently, expression empathetic but strong. 

“ no, Tori, it’s not horrible, but it WASN’T a mistake. Frisk has the most caring, nurturing, strong, passionate woman in all the world taking care of them. they are so lucky to have you, and they will realize that in time. they’re just a kid, Tori, and i know God, or the angel, or whatever universe dust, put them in the care of the most earnest woman i know, for a reason.” Sans nodded assuringly, with blazing sockets, “ hang in there, i know they love you so much.” Just like I do. . .was something Sans thought but didn’t say. 

He was dedicated to somebody else, he always had been. He didn’t think he could stop loving his brother if he tried. And he had tried, but it just didn't work. It made him angry. And if you were angry at Papyrus, you might as well be angry at newborn puppies or blooming flowers, because you’d just end up feeling like a horrible monster. 

Though there was a part of him that did love Toriel, Toriel was so much older, she had already been married and divorced, raised two children, now raising one more, Sans was just 19, and he didn’t have so much as a part-time job on his reservoir. They were friends, in the way deep, intimate friends were; in a sweeping, encompassing way. But they were friends and that was all.

Toriel smiled and wrapped her other paw over his skeletal hand. “ Thank you, Sans.” she said quietly, with warm eyes. She nodded, blinked her tears dry with a few flutters of her lashes, and smiled. He nodded and they remained like that a moment. When the Whimsun returned, the server seemed even more timid than before. 

They muttered apologies under their breath as they carefully placed the plates and mugs of piping coffee onto the aged table, “ I’m sorry it took so long. Forgive me. . .” 

Toriel looked to the Whimsun and said, “ It’s not a problem.” happily, her and Sans untangling their hands and taking their plates and respective mugs. Sans blushed a bit, that wasn’t too touchy, right?

The Whimsun nodded shyly and fluttered away. Sans looked across the table and Toriel looked to be better, “ So, how is your father? And Papyrus?” 

Sans smiled, “ oh, dad is good, busy with work as always. and Pap. . .” Sans took a sip of coffee, to find it had a bit more of a kick than he had expected. He recovered from the taste and explained, with an awkward expression, “ is good too.” 

“ You seem unsure of that, Sans? Are you sure?” 

Sans chuckled, “ yup, i am, Pap is fine, just-” He shrugged, rubbing behind his neck vertebrae, “ not sure i am.” 

“ Oh,” Toriel looked instantly sympathetic, “ why not? Are you alright?” Sans shrugged and nodded, looking down into his coffee, “ it’s just, i think Pap got himself a boyfriend,”

“ Oh my.” Toriel replied and he nodded, looking up, “ though they may have been a thing for a while and i just didn’t know.”

“ He’s gay?” Toriel questioned and Sans looked confused as he replied, “ i don’t know honestly, he had never SAID anything about bein’ gay.” Sans paused and took a bite of his raspberry danish, he stress ate. Toriel respected the quiet for a moment and then asked, “ Are you hurt he didn’t tell you about his sexuality?” Her eyes were honest and patient. 

Sans swallowed down his bite and then said, “ i’m not sure.” carefully, “ i mean it is a little unfair i guess, considerin’ he knows my. . .preferences.” 

Toriel giggled and Sans looked to her. She waved her paw towards him playfully, “ Oh sorry, it is just still so strange for me to imagine you with a man.” Classic Sans blushed, “ Tori, please.” he said dismissively. He had told her he was bisexual a few months ago. He had been worried how she’d react but she had taken it quite well, though she was still a rather old woman, who grew up in a different time, so she sometimes said things that embarrassed him. 

“ Sorry, heh, well, have you talked to Papyrus about it yet?” Toriel questioned. Looking with a frown, Sans replied, “ nope, not yet.” 

“ Well, I recommend you try and do so.” Toriel encouraged, “ Maybe he was scared of what you would think?” she suggested.

Sans frowned, “ that would suck even more.” He took a sip of his coffee, and his soul felt heavy. “ that Pap would ever think i wouldn’t support him? i bend over backwards to make sure he knows the opposite. i just.. . .i wonder. . .” 

“ Wonder if you did something wrong?” Toriel questioned and Sans looked up with surprised sockets. He nodded and her eyes were full of empathy, “ I can’t say I don’t relate. But you love your brother very much, Sans, and I know you have done everything in your power to make sure he knows that.” She said, “ Trust in that. You couldn’t have done a thing different.” 

I could have told him how I felt. 

“ You’re a great older brother, Sans. I know if you talk to your brother, he’ll have a good reason for not telling you, and if not, you can get closer to him anyway.” The goat woman took a small sip of her latte, “ Don’t doubt yourself. The angel put the two of you together for a reason.” 

Sans nodded solemnly, a reason? He. . .he was just lucky. Simultaneously lucky and unlucky. Blessed with the closeness of Papyrus, having him around every single day, being around his smile that lit up a whole room, his laugh that lifted your spirit from the depths of its despairs, his booming voice that scared away woes and worries, his energy that made you laugh it was so unbelievably exhaustless, his kindness, his ability to forgive; the warmth and shamelessness of his hugs, the way he said, “ SANS!!!” like it was the best word in all the languages in all the worlds. 

Cursed by every fact just the same. Cursed by his own heart, his own soul, his own pining eyes, his lustful bones. His feelings, his fantasies, his inability to let go, his inability to let Papyrus deal with anything on his own. His obsession with protecting him, his guilt swirling up through every section of him. There were others, other monsters he could love, maybe he did love them, soft goat women, and strong handsome strangers, but all failed in comparison, none torn him away from the forbidden drink he drowned in. Rich scarlet wine of incest and sin. He’d drink it till his bones filled up and he sank to the bottom of the sea, stared up to the dark, star-lit skies beyond. 

You always wanted what you were forbidden.


	26. God, the Fell brothers are gross!

" Ew! No way, Edge! I am NOT kissing you!" Blue sat, faced away from Edge, flushing blue adorning his face; above his small, unhappy scowl. He had his hands pressed into the knees of gray pants and he wore a blue polo with a white stripe across the front atop of it. 

" Oh, come on." Edge encouraged, a mischievous smirk on the teen's face, an elbow on Blue's white granite countertop, " We've got to make it believable." 

" Well, we can do that without kissing!" Blue pouted, crossing his arms over his chest in dissatisfaction. Edge asked, leaning over towards the smaller skeleton, " Why? Kissing isn't a big deal, it's just one, Blue. I know your brother will go crazy if he sees that." Blue blinked widely with interest, " R-really?" he asked with large eyes and Edge nodded, " Think about how jealous you'd be if he was kissing someone." 

Blue frowned slowly and felt conflicted," Jeez, Edge, you make it sound like I want to marry him." Blue replied with an unsure grin; he reached up and straightened his handkerchief that didn't need straightening.

Edge raised his sockets playfully, leaning onto both of his elbows on the counter, " Don't you? I mean you hate the idea with him marrying some other random bitch." 

" Language, Edge!" Blue chided and Edge rolled his eyes, " I think you should just be honest with yourself. You definitely want to fuck Stretch." 

Blue blushed brutally and said, with closed eyes, gripping onto the edge of the counter, " I wish I could fake break up with you." 

Edge chuckled, " Come on, kiss me, Blue! Just for a picture! We've got to make it look real!" Blue looked back at him with a frown, " B-but I-I've. . ." He quieted and then Edge probed, " I've WHAT?" impatiently. Blue sighed, " I've never kissed anyone, ok?" 

Edge broke into disbelieving laugh that Blue winced too. " Hey!" he protested, " Don't laugh, that's mean! A-and it's nothing to be ashamed of, I'll get my first kiss by the person who's right for me; the one! I'm just waiting for the right monster!"

Edge raised an eye socket, " So, you're waiting for Stretch?" Blue frowned nervously and questioned, " Why are you so fixated on me and my brother anyway?" changing the subject. Edge noted it, Blue really was smarter than he looked. Though his innocence and good-will kept him from reaching his peak-sharpness. 

" Cause," Edge explained bluntly, " I'm into my brother, so I'm curious if you are too." Blue blinked with big sockets, then a wide smile crossed his face. " You have a crush on Red?! That's so cute!" He wrapped his hands together and gushed, " You two are perfect for each other!" Mostly because you're both bullies, Blue thought dryly in his head, he knew that wouldn't be polite though, so he kept that comment to himself. 

Edge huffed, " It's barely a crush when you've made someone your bitch already." He smirked proudly and pronounced, " I've fucked him." Blue looked surprised and blushed a bit, " O-oh, . . .l-like you've had. . .s-s-s-"

" Yes, sex!" Edge interjected, finding his neighbor's ability to beat around the bush annoying. " And I was top, of course." he reminded, that was implied, but Edge wanted to be crystal clear on that part. He didn't care if what they did got around, in fact, probably best Red couldn't escape it, but he didn't want some twisted version where he was fucking sub getting around. Ugh, no way, not before he died. 

Blue shifted uncomfortably, clearing his throat. " Well, um, congratulations?" Is that what you were supposed to say when someone had sex? " Are you having a baby?" he asked with big eyes. Edge paused mid-movement and then looked at him with disbelief. For a moment, he wondered if Blue was fucking with him. Then a moment dragged of Blue blinking at him widely. 

" What?" he replied with narrowed eyes, " You've got to be kidding me. We're two dudes, Blue. Even you know, two men can't make a fuckin' kid." Edge shuddered at the thought. Oh, Red would make a terrible mother. 

Blue frowned and said quietly, " My daddy said I should be careful if I ever wanted to do things, u-use s-sexual protection and s-such, because he said I was so magical there was no guarantee how my body would react to s-s-sexual diseases or-" Blue's skull was completely azul, ugh, he didn't know why Edge was making them talk about this stuff! he words were so embarrassing, he could barely say them! " -um, ya know, o-other stuff."

Edge looked to him with interest. W-wait, WAS it possible? N-no, right? What did Blue know? He was most definitely a virgin, he hadn't even kissed anyone before for God's sake! Still, his statement planted an uncomfortable doubt in Edge's mind. Surely Red would have called him by now if the opposite was true. He cleared his throat, " Well, I'm almost certain we can't get STDs." Otherwise I'd be full of them, Edge thought with dryness. " And I still don't think a skeleton can get pregnant." he fought and Blue frowned at him. 

" Still if you are doing that kind of stuff, you have got to be ready for that kind of responsibility!” Blueberry chided, “ When are you two getting married? Wait-" Blue realized, " you told him our relationship is fake, right?" Blue couldn't date a married man! Even if it was fake dating! He didn't want Red to think Edge was being unfaithful! Though he was sure, Edge had told him it was all theatrical. 

Edge stared at Blue and wondered how sheltered this kid was. Married? Please. Edge would never do something like that. No ball and chain for him; man, woman, or otherwise. Edge didn't care how hot they were, he wasn't going to tie himself down like that. 

" You know what, I don't have the energy to argue with you. This is about you and Stretch and making him believe us." Edge gestured between them with his leather-gloved hand. And making sure my idiot brother believes it too, Edge added as a thought to himself. Blue shifted nervously, " But we don't have to kiss, right? Can't we just hug or something?" 

Edge squinted at him and Blue looked to him with an innocent gaze. Edge sighed and said, " Ok, no kissing. I've got a better idea." He leaned back and picked up his phone, which was on the counter. He patted his lap, " Get on." 

" Get what?" Blue replied with a look of horror. 

" Sit on my lap." Edge ordered and Blue felt nervousness as he looked at the leather covered femurs of his neighbor and then looking up to his face again. Edge cocked an eye skeptically, " You want Stretch or not?" 

Blue nodded with bright eyes. " Yes, of course!" He stood up and hesitantly sat down onto Edge's legs, Edge shifted back and wrapped a large arm over Blue's chest, making the older skeleton hold his breath, hot air coming up in his cheeks. Edge adjusted him back further and Blue asked in a squeak, " What are we doing?" 

Edge pulled up his camera and checked the two of them out in it. Blue looked tense in his lap but he was a good size, he was light and didn't feel like much on Edge's femurs. Red had much more weight than he did. 

" Taking a picture like I explained, can't exactly have Stretch see us walking down the street unless you want to take a bus to New Home." 

Blue nodded sheepishly, " I know that part, I just-"

" Can you unbutton your shirt a little?" 

" What?" Blue asked with confusion. Edge turned the angle of his head, " Come on. Just one or two." Blue moved his small hands to do as requested, " O-ok, but why?" 

Edge smiled as a little more of Sans' sternum was exposed, gotta give enough for monsters to really use their imagination. 

" Trust me, Blue." Edge replied and Blue lowered his hands back to his sides, feeling unsure. N-no, self, I can't doubt this; Edge is right! Blue told himself, I've got to trust in this! It might be my only chance to bring Pappy back into my life! 

" Wh-what do I do now?" he asked and Edge said calmly, " I'm going to kiss your neck, ok?" 

" What?" Blue asked, stiffening up. " Relax." Edge reminded. Blue blushed as Edge said, " Fake a smile for me." A smirk grew over his sharp teeth. " Alright, babe?" Blue nodded with a tightening feeling in his throat. 

 

" Fucker!" Red proclaimed, throwing something harshly and quickly into the wastebasket beside his desk. It was mostly empty because most of his trash simply ended up on his dorm's floor. He then kicked the basket over and knocked a hand-full of root beer bottles off the desk, some empty, some full of soda, some full of other things. They flew from their resting place, the liquids inside jostling violently. Red kicked his computer chair and the wheeled device rolled submissively to the other side of the room, clunking into the wall there and looking back to him; betrayed.

Red wasn't in a talkative mood. He doesn't care to update you on why this outburst is happening. Red shoved a binder off the table, exploding with unattached and disorganized notes as it hit the wooden floor. He kicked the desk leg, the mattress side, threw every pillow and book and any object that wasn't attached to the wall he could get his hands on. Some logic in him somewhere spared the computer and his phone. Some might see his behavior as childlike, like a three year old throwing an intense tantrum but Red himself had been taught it was a perfectly normal way to deal with anger. 

Once as a child, the car had broke down. They were on a loud highway somewhere, he didn't remember exactly where. He remembered Papyrus kept reaching out and trying to grab his arm because the loud noises were scaring him. Dad was shouting and cursing, and Red was a little scared he was going to hit them. But he knew logically, in his bright child mind, Daddy didn't hit them when they weren't at home. In the supermarket, or the thrift shop, or on the street, if Daddy got angry, they were usually safe until they got home.

Fell Gaster had snapped at them to 'Get the FUCK out of the car!' and they had hurried to listen. Red had watched with a horrified but intensely focused expression as Gaster produced a metal bat from the backseat and began to beat the car with it; windshield cracked, headlights smashed, glass flying off, and scaring Sans that Dad might hurt himself on it. The whole time Sans did not dare step it, the yelling and cussing his father was doing being far too scary to even consider intervening. Papyrus had hugged him tightly, being no more than five then, being too scared to look or even think. The whole ordeal seemed to last hours, though it couldn't have been more than ten minutes. Then once their father had exhausted himself, he went into the backseat, pulled out some things and shoved them into a plastic grocery bag. Then, his face serious and the boys keeping a wide radius, he stated, " Let's go." And they walked back into the city on foot. That was about near the time right before the move to Snowdin, Sans remembered their father doing a lot of crazy things then. Though he was always kinda crazy. 

Memories aside, Red eventually stewed in the corner of his room, on the floor, arms resting on his pulled up knees. He groaned heavily as he stared around at the scattered papers, thrown, tattered quilt, and abused pile of laundry, which he had taken from one corner of the room to every inch of the room in his throwing. His eyes were wandering over the mess, wondering how long it'd take him to clean up, when they landed on a leather object a ways away from the spilled wastebasket. 

He frowned and leaned forward, picking it up with a stout hand. The downward curve of his teeth remained the same as he pulled back and let his back sink into the wall once more. He looked over the object with distrust and disappointment. He let it drop to the floor, wrapping his arms around his legs. He should have known- he was just another one of Papyruses’ whores. 

His little bro was somewhat of a sex addict and by fourteen Papyrus was fucking every girl he could get his hands on; he always bragged about how many he had fucked, how good he was, how good they said he was. Sans always rolled his red eye lights in annoyance. Predictable. While he suspected many of his brother’s sexual escapades were embellished, there was no doubt many held truth. If the girls that burst into tears as he walked down the high school’s hallway had anything to say about it. 

Sans tried not to give a shit- I mean why would he? It’s not like it affected him or anythin’. He always went rigid and quiet when Edge bragged about his trophies and sex whores. Who cared, right? His feelings changed when Edge started fooling around with guys. For some reason, that made him so angry, so angry he could barely stand it. 

He remembered one night, they had shown up at a party with college kids, full of underage drinkers and wild dancing. He had searched the crowd for Edge, having lost him somewhere, and found him in a backroom, some guy blowing him. Red had violently broke them up, shouting and nearly starting a fight with the male, intoxicated monster, who looked more than a bit startled. Red then drug Edge home, being able to bully him only because Edge had had a few too many cups of whatever the hell was being served. Red had roared he was a faggot as he drove them home. Edge had hiccuped and retorted, he was just jealous! Jealous he couldn’t get any while Edge was ‘swimming in it’. Red didn’t want to know what ‘it’ was, his bones tingled with disgust just thinking about it. But Boss hadn’t been entirely wrong-he WAS jealous. He wouldn’t pretend with you, try and give some fancy lie. He wanted Edge-wanted him like that, he suspected the unhealthy impulse was probably because of his childhood beatings or something similarly fucked up, but couldn’t swear anything for certain. 

Red heard a knock at his door abruptly, his eye lights went there in flash. That was more than unusual. Maybe it was one of those hard-ass RA’s? Checking on the state of his dorm? Red’s eyes roamed around the mess with dryness. Yeah, that would go well. He huffed, resting his head on his knees, they could go away. He wondered if someone had gotten whiff of Frisk spending a night a little while ago, he was pretty sure that was against a ton of regulations. Once again- if that was the case- they could eat his ass, he didn’t give a fuck and certainly wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone. Not after- his eyes went to the collar he had abandoned on the floor again. He looked away bitterly, not after-.

A more insistent knock. He grew more irritated, lifting his head. Who the fuck was that? 

“ Red! i know you’re in there! please! it’s Stretch!” His sockets widened slightly in surprise. Weedbag? He put a hand on the floor and pushed his heavy bones up, feeling like an old man with how his back ached. He swore he shouldn’t spend so much time hunched over his computer screen or straining to watch his phone screen in bed. 

He wandered over to the door, not even bothering to kick an abused textbook from the area right in front of the doorway, nor straighten his scarlet t-shirt, which was rolled and rumpled in every way possible. His stained t-shirt was under his black, heavy jacket with a bulky zipper up the midline and a hood trimmed, with cheap faux fur; that was once white but was now aged by misuse and irregular cleanings. 

Pulling open his door, by use of the bronze door knob, he saw his tall ex-neighbor? Ex-middle-school boyfriend? What else was could their relationship be defined as? Oh, he got it, that guy that looks like my asshat bro but stinks of mary-jane and potato chips, Red thought bitterly. 

Stretch stood, at his impressive height of 6’1’’, dwarfing Fell Sans’ below average 4’11’’. He wore an orange tank-top, that hung distractingly low on his chest, making Red’s eyes roam over his white sternum and collarbones, over fashionably, baggy gray pants, and an overly expensive brand of slim sneakers. Above his extremely worried expression, perched on the top of his skull, was a wool beanie of brown. 

“ can i come in?” Stretch asked and Red crossed his arms over his chest, a scowl on his face, “ don’t know, CAN ya?” 

Stretch frowned a little more and pleaded, “ please, this is about our brothers.” His eyes looked desperate like a widow’s.   
Red huffed loudly, turning and letting out a grumble, fine, whatever! Only cause Stretch was decent eye-candy. Couldn’t deny a part of him still thought the annoying weedbag was attractive; long legs, wide sockets, perky ribs, what wasn’t there to like? I mean in terms of appearance, what was there not to like, in personality there was plenty-PLENTY to turn you off. 

Stretch frowned at the less than promising greeting, stepping in and shutting the door quietly behind him. He looked around with a concerned expression. This place was an actual dump. His own dorm got disorganized, his room at home-a true disaster-, but this looked like a frickin’ crackhead’s house. 

He looked over to Red, who was struggling to pull his computer chair over a dirty, entangled bath towel. Red eventually growled in frustration, turned the chair towards Stretch and then jumped into it. He situated himself in the back of it and Stretch, put his hands in his pants’ pockets, feeling uncomfortable, like a defendant before a judge. 

“ i-.” He wasn’t sure where to start. “ you saw the pictures, right?” Red stared at him a moment and then spat sarcastically, “ no, i actually live under a ROCK.” 

Stretch resisted a pun about stones, though if he did give one he was sure it would have ‘ROCK’ed Red to his core. But he simply wasn't in the mood. 

“ well, sorry, i-i just wanted to make sure we were on the page.” 

“ same page?” Red asked irritably, “ what page? in what book? what is there to talk about?”

Stretch looked at him in incredulous shock, a smile of disbelief forming, “ excuse me? our brothers, our apparently ‘DATING’ brothers? you really don’t have anythin’ to say to me?” 

Red shrugged, “ i’m not Edge’s fuckin’ keeper. he does what he wants.” 

Stretch looked shocked and then narrowed his sockets, taking a step forward, so Red WAS in on it! He felt a burst of righteous anger! How dare they?! These two buffoons! 

“ is this about the money? cause if is, you both are bein’ incredibly petty!” Stretch tore his wallet out of his pocket, “ i’ll give you what i have-” His eyes darted to his leather wallet before glaring harshly back at Red, “ and then you both better leave my bro out of this!” 

Red cocked an eye socket with a disgruntled expression. Money? “ what money?” he grunted, leaning forward, and Stretch exclaimed in outrage, “ don’t play dumb! you’re playin’ collector boy for your STUPID brother! you know i owe him money!” Red thought back and oh yeah- he DID remember that. Stretch had bought a twenty-sack from Boss, right? 

Wait-his mind flashed back to the public pictures sprawled across every undernet profile within their home town. Edge’s handsome face buried into a giggling, flushing Blue’s neck, Blue in Edge’s arm, hand across his lap suggestively. While on a nice living room couch, Blue in a princess carry, gripping around Edge’s neck mid-laugh, while Edge smirked devilishly. His mind raced with what Stretch was saying. About the money? Maybe. . .maybe Edge was trying to threaten Weedbag? He could guess that was Stretch’s train of thought anyway, but that-that wasn’t like Boss. Boss came straight for you if he had beef with you, not somebody else, and even if he did go for Blue, why not slit tires or a beating? Why fake a relationship with the loser? 

Stretch thrust the crumpled bills forward, spitting, “ just take the money and call your moron of a ‘boss’ and tell him to get the hell away from my brother!” 

Red looked Stretch up and down and then stood slowly, he wandered over and took the bills gingerly. This-this wasn’t adding up. “ i’ll tell him ya paid me.” he said calmly and Stretch spat, “ now! do it NOW, Red!” Red scowled at him for a moment, not appreciating being told what to do. But, honestly, he was curious if Stretch’s theory had any validity. Slowly, he fished out his cracked, old-model phone from his black gym shorts’ pockets. 

“ fine. i’ll TRY him.” Red really did mean that. Edge hadn’t picked up his calls in days. Stretch nodded, “ good!” crossing his arms over his chest, clearly displeased. Red selected ‘The Great Douche’ and waited for it to ring; once-twice-maybe today he would actually-”Hey loser! Looks like you were too unimportant for the Great and Terrible Papyrus to pick u-” Red clicked the end call button, he looked to an expecting Stretch, “ voicemail.” 

“ what do you mean ‘voicemail’?” Stretch asked, a forced smile pulled tightly on his face, his voice was full of repressed stress, “ we can’t just leave this unaddressed! he is fuckin’ with my bro right now! Sans is so innocent!” Stretch declared, losing any slight hint of his cool, “ the fact that Edge could even THINK about manipulating him like that is DISGUSTING! DISGUSTING! i’m not leavin’ until i talk to him! how could you let him do that?!” Stretch threw out his large hands desperately, “ Sans isn’t involved, he never was! why did Edge have to drag him into all this mess?!” Stretch’s shoulders sagged and his sockets found the floor, “ it’s all my fault, i-” He raised a hand and it dug into his tank-top fabric above were his heart would be, “ this is my mess, i should never have been irresponsible enough to get him involved. i. . .i feel like such an idiot.” 

Red looked at him straightly and said bluntly, “ well, good. least we’re on the same page for once.” Stretch looked back up to him with a severe scowl, not appreciating the callback to his previous statement. 

Red said honestly, gesturing his hands out, “ ya ever think this might not be about you? i mean i know you’re kind of a shallow, conceited, narcissistic, materialistic-” 

“ we get it.” 

“ but not everything is bout ya, ya know?” Red returned, “ i don’t think this is bout ya, i think it’s bout-” Me, Red thought with hurt regret in his head. “ -my bro’s personality, he has a tendency to sleep around.” 

“ w-wait, you think it’s just RANDOM?” Stretch asked with bewildered sockets, “ no way. he just RANDOMLY starts dating the monster of the guy who owes him money, when he’s never shown any interest in him before.” Stretch said strictly, “ that sounds more than unlikely to me.” 

Red shrugged, “ yeah, well, stranger things have happened. listen my bro is kinda a freak, ok? he fucks anythin’ that moves.” 

Stretch grew a look of serious, stressed anxiety, “ but that’s what you’re not GETTIN’, my bro won’t fuck him.” 

Red cocked an eye socket as Stretch blushed a bit, knowing he probably shouldn’t be revealing his information, “ S-Sans, Blue, he-he’s really. . .sensitive about sex and all that kinda stuff. there is no way he’d ever have sex with Edge, not in a million years.” Stretch said with confidence. 

Red frowned and said, “ i betcha my Boss thinks he’ll just corrupt him, he seduces virgins sometimes.” 

“ ew!” Stretch exclaimed, pulling back physically in disgust. Red scowled at him dryly, “ oh, don’t pretend you’re so noble, Weedbag. i know you spread your legs, more than once a week, for who knows who. probably an STD.” 

Stretch glowered at him with rage and then snarled, “at least i don’t ogle monsters i barely know, creep.” pulling up his tank-top some. Red huffed incredulously, “ ya wouldn’t be showin’ off if ya didn’t wanna be looked at!” 

Stretch glowed up with orange and retorted angrily, “ you and your brother are both gross and despicable!” 

“ wow!” Red barked in response, “ ‘despicable’?! did the pothead learn a seventh grade vocab word?!”

“ asshole!” Stretch shouted. 

“ slut!” 

“ pig!” 

“ moron!” 

Stretch stamped a foot in frustration, “ forget it! i don’t know why i even came by!” He started for the door and Red was fuming from the exchange, not denying there was sexual excitement in the fiery exchanges. Ah, he really was a creep. Reminded him of home-sometimes after a shouting match with Edge or even dad, he’d lock himself in his room and take care of himself. Something about the degradation and violence wound him up. He glared after Stretch and called, “ feel free to let the door hit you on the way out!” 

Stretch grit his teeth in anger, opening the door and stalking out. He slammed the door and drug his hands violently down his skull, muffling a scream into his hands. Ugh! It made him so MAD! Now Edge was probably just tryin’ to SEDUCE his brother?! That was only slightly less bad than trying to threaten him! Blue shouldn't be hanging around a shady and immoral guy like Edge! He deserved so much better!

I need to put a stop to it! If Red won’t to it-I’ll do it myself! Stretch thought with determination, I’ll call that drug-dealin’ delinquent and tell him off! Threaten to tell his dad and get him kicked out if he doesn’t leave my brother alone! Yeah-yeah! That’s what I’ll do! Stretch decided strongly. Now, he just needed Edge’s phone number, as he currently lacked it. He spun around, more than irritated he had to see that jerk Red’s face for one more rage-inducing second. He swung the door open, not caring to knock for Red certainly didn’t deserve that. . .courtesy. . .

Stretch’s sockets widened in stunnedness. Red was leaned over on his desk, one clawing hand gripping to whiteness onto the desk’s corner; pressing weight down into it. Red’s expression one of a feral growl, making low groans as his opposing hands moved over his thick, bulging ecto-cock, that protruded from his exposed ivory pelvis; sable shorts pooled by his feet. Stretch’s soul stopped pulsing and his feet were frozen, hand limp on the knob; face a mixture of unspeakable shock and horror. 

It seemed to be years, decades, millennia- of watching the sturdy hand squeeze up and down the crimson length; releasing husky, loud panting and low, lewd moans, before Red glanced over to the open door frame. He paused a moment. Stretch still frozen like some kind of hunted creature. 

Red raised his sockets in dryness, “ ya mind?” he grunted hoarsely. Stretch blushed terribly as he slammed the door- unable to shake the image from his head. He screamed in his hands all the way back to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	27. Weed and Stuffing

Papyrus sat on the run-down couch in the living room, he was sunk back into the cushions like he hadn't moved in eons, vaguely listening to a conversation in the kitchen. 

" Yes, of course. . .No, I'm sorry. It's alright." Asgore was on the phone with someone, Corn didn't really care who it was-maybe Sans? His eye lights flicked to the TV box's numbers. It was 9 o'clock after all. Maybe he was late? 

Papyrus yawned, wiping at one of his eyes. He wasn't really tired-well he was tired, just not physically. Corn slept copious amounts, it was hard for him to sleep at night ironically; anxiety attacks would take him and he'd pace the floor and grab onto his blankets while he felt the world was imploding and collapsing around him- only finding solace in his pot and sleep-deprived crashes-but he actually slept fine during the day. When Sans was away, napping was one of the ways he passed the time. It's not like he had an interest in doing anything else. 

When Sans first started leaving him behind, like a troublesome child better left in time out, he had lied to himself- joked this was BETTER. Hours to do whatever he wanted! No one to scold or belittle him! He was free! But Corn soon found he hated it. Nothing made sense without Sans around, Corn found he had no ambitions of his own. Did he want cereal or pancakes? He'd stare endlessly into the fridge. He didn't care. They both tasted empty and pointless. Even the honeymustard he once found as a treat, now tasted plain and displeasing. There was nothing tempting about a cookie once removed from its seducing jar. So, unwilling and uninterested in finding something else to do, Corn took long cat-naps that replaced his nighttime sleeping that he fought with. 

Asgore returned into the living room. Today the large, burly goat man had on a soft-knit sweater of black-a bleach stain on the right sleeve- and loose jeans that made his large legs seem shapeless. He wore heavy sneakers and had his wild golden hair tied back in a ponytail. He was putting his bulky flip phone in his pocket as he approached Corn, trying to look calm but he had a tense smile. 

" Papyrus, how do you feel about a sleepover?" 

Papyrus cocked an eye at him skeptically, not moving from his spot pressed back into the cushions. " M'lord goin' be late?" The goat man smirked softly, " M'lord?" Corn blushed a bit, realizing his slip, and sat up some. " uh." He didn't really have any defense, nor way to explain it and make it sound less bad than it was. Asgore gave a boisterous laugh, deep and booming and Corn shrunk down in embarrassment. Shoot. 

Asgore smiled at him, " Well, yes, your 'lord' is." The older monster shook his large head in amusement, " You two are such a funny pair." Stretch scratched behind his neck with one of his thin hands. Well, at least the old dude didn't didn't think it was sexual or something. He had gotten more than enough uncomfortable questions from his father to handle those concerns for a lifetime. Though they were usually just punchlines that were intended to jab at Sans, by simple, unrelated consequence they humiliated him thoroughly as well. Maybe he DID have wet dreams about Sans fucking him into his bed sheets and MAYBE he did find a bit of enjoyment staring at his brother's pelvis, as he bent over to clean something, but, he didn't exactly want either of those things brought to attention. 

Asgore said casually, " Can you go pack a bag or do you want me to make one for you?" He checked his slightly cracked, but still working, faded bronze watch on his wrist. Sockets widening, Corn clarified in surprise, " w-wait, you're not stayin' here?" He thought 'sleepover' meant Asgore crashing on the couch and him pretending to be asleep in his room as usual. 

Asgore gave him a calm, bemused look as he passed by him in front of the couch. " Course not, I have a kid, Papyrus. They can't cook mac'n'cheese by themselves. We've got to go back to my place." 

Papyrus frowned in distaste. They had to leave the house? And worse yet, he had to see. . .them. How could this happen? " why can't we just wait here for-" Papyrus made extra effort to say, " Sans? he shouldn't be that much longer. you can even just go now." Corn shrugged, sinking back into the couch. " i won't go play in traffic or somethin'." He meant it, he hadn't stopped wanting to die, but throwing himself in front of a car sounded like a lot of work. The whole point of killing himself was that he DIDN'T have to work anymore. Asgore looked back to him and said calmly, " I know, but I'm not getting paid to know. I'm paid to be certain." 

Corn raised a socket questioningly and retorted, “ that’s contradictory. “

Asgore paused, a hand resting on the stair’s rail to the narrow case. He looked over his broad back, “ Is not. I know you won’t kill yourself in the same way you ‘know’ you want to die. But what we think we know is not always the truth- the certain truth.” Corn frowned, “ well, i don’t want to go.” 

“ Well, we can call Sans and you can explain to him why you’re refusing to cooperate instead, if you’d prefer that.” Papyrus rolled his eye lights, looking away to the opposite wall, crossing his arms and said nothing more. Asgore’s neutral expression fell to a frown as Papyrus avoided his eyes. The older man was actually glad Papyrus didn’t take him up on that offer. 

Asgore gathered up a bag for Papyrus, Corn choosing to melt and become one with the couch as the goat man did so, and then quickly, they were all ready to go. Asgore stood at the doorway, slipping on his winter boots and thick wool coat. “ Come grab a coat, Papyrus. You’ll be cold.” Papyrus slumped down on the armrest and stared at him deadly. 

Asgore sighed and said, “ Come on now. I need to get home to Chara.” 

“ go on without me.” Papyrus muttered, the end of the phrase being muffled by the couch cushion. Asgore frowned and checked his watch with irritation. Then he looked up and stared at the slumped teen’s frame for a moment. He could threaten to call Sans again, but he didn’t know if Papyrus was lazy enough to actually accept the offer-then he’d be in a pickle. Asgore chose bribery over condemnation. 

“ We can stop and see your dealer on the way there.” 

Papyrus perked his head up slowly. “ r-really?” he asked after a moment. Asgore huffed in discontent and nodded, “ But only if you hurry and don’t fight me anymore.” Corn weighed this and agreed, “ ok.” standing up and wandering over to the door. He was out of weed and he didn’t know the next chance he’d be able to slip away and buy some. He needed to both wipe funds from Sans or dad, and then find a time to sneak out of the house, possibly while Sans was sleeping- and Sans would ring him brutally if he caught him sneaking out, especially to buy something he didn’t approve of. 

Asgore handed Papyrus’ large, oversized black coat to him and Corn pulled it on lazily as they started out. The biting breeze was harsh against Corn’s bones as soon as they stepped out and down the townhouse’s concrete steps. He looked back up at their house vaguely as they wandered away from it. The brown siding was worn but not breaking down, the windows all had the shutters drawn and from the outside- it looked very uninviting. Though he had lived there since he was a small child, Corn did not hold much affection for the building- not many good memories there. Not many memories period.

Sometimes he wondered how anyone could want to live. From what he understood, most monsters just had better lives than him. They’d never been beaten up, never killed somebody, never been humiliated and torn down the way he had. They remembered things like childhood birthdays with bright balloons and slow, romantic dates by candlelight, and the warm things like love and affection. Or Corn imagined they did. What a nice idea, Corn could barely imagine that. A life where there was things you looked forward to, instead of just things you dreaded. He could barely picture that kind of joy. He tried to remember if he had ever felt it, and maybe he had, once or twice, but he was never that kind of monster. Even when happiness came, he didn’t know what to do with it, and gave it away, as if uncertain how to handle it; as if unsure of what it even was. 

Sans, eight at the time, had snatched the fluffy yellow bear from him. “ What the FUCK is this?!” He had waited till dad was gone to strike. Papyrus shrugged, looking small, “ i don’t know, Sans.” 

“ You DON’T KNOW?!” Sans lashed out and struck him, Papyrus gave a small cry as he fell to the bathroom floor. Sans stared at the gas station teddy bear with burning hate and jealousy. “ Idiot! It’s trash! That’s what it is!” Sans tore out a pair of scissors from the bathroom’s drawers and Corn looked up with horrified, childhood eyes as Ras began to stab the iron blades into the bear’s chest, ripping left and right, tearing fabric with awful ripping noises. “ please, Sans! no! Daddy bought that for me!” 

Ras looked to him with disgust and rage. The way a bird of prey looked to a rotten worm. “ Ok. You’re right. Daddy bought it for YOU.” He thrust the scissors out to Corn. “ You destroy it then.” 

Corn had tears in his sockets. “ wh-what?” 

“ You destroy it.” Sans repeated, with his then higher voice, “ Destroy the bear, Papyrus.” Corn’s sockets widened in horror and he slowly stood up from his place on the cheap bathroom rug. “ i-i couldn’t-i-” Ras’ smile grew wide, glinting sharp teeth pulling wide. “ Come on.” Ras stated. “ Do it. Are you a pussy or something?” Corn shook his head no, blushing, Ras’ expression turned back to angry, “ Then fucking DO IT!” Corn took the blades with a trembling hand. Ras slammed the bear down on the bathroom counter. “ DO IT, DOG! DO IT! DO IT!” His older brother was gleeful; excited! Corn had hesitated, bathroom walls shrinking inward and ceiling pressing down, tiles coming loose and mirror showing back Lucifer in a plush chair and an ear of corn locked in a dog crate. His hand had shook. Ras had screamed, “ YES, DOG, YES!” The scissors rammed down into the teddy bear’s mouth, its maw being torn open like a monster’s in a gory horror flick. Glass eyes flew, stuffing tore through the many, growing openings in the bear’s flesh. Corn was crying. “ KILL IT! KILL IT!” A scream of delight. 

He ran into a large arm in front of him, pausing and looking up to Asgore. They were standing at the streetside. A red cambry flew by in a rush. The goat man’s face was concerned. “ Papyrus? I thought you were joking about the traffic.” Papyrus looked down slowly to see he was a few steps over the curb, on the ink asphalt. 

“ sorry.” he said, “ an accident.” 

Asgore looked at him and the old man’s brown eyes looked sad and distrustful. “ Ok.” he responded quietly, “ Ok.” He stayed more close to him after that, Corn noticed. 

Corn lead them down to a even worse part of New Home than his and Sans’ house was located. The streets were quiet here, the gray sidewalks cracked and spray-painted. Trash laid around and not a single tree, or plant, grew from the dying, stiff grass of the surrounding medians and decor. He was usually around at this time of night, though if not Corn supposed he could always buy from someone else, though he doubted Madjick would appreciate his lack of loyalty. 

He heard a loud, and. . .oddly familiar voice, coming from an alleyway between two boarded up buildings, each with broken glass around the windows and spray-paint over the wood planks. The voice was high and acute, sharp like a dog’s whistle, still reminiscent in a way that made Corn pause. He turned slowly to see down the alley better, there was a bonfire burning in a trashcan. Madjick, with his signature black, broad hat leaning forward and covering his eyes, leaned up against the wall listening to- Corn’s eyes widened. What the-? 

There was a tall skeleton who wore an orange hoodie and tight khaki pants that hugged his hips and showed off how long his legs were. His skull had wide, richly black sockets and even in the dim light of the fire, Corn could tell how white his bones were. He had a cigarette in one hand, an angry expression on his face as he gestured around. “ and then he looks me dead in the sockets and ask if ‘I MIND’? ‘I MIND’? ‘I MIND’?! of course, I MINE! he’s jackin’ off right in front of me! i couldn’t have been out of the room for more than forty seconds, who in their right mind does that?! ugh! i’m just so mad! and that idiot, hasn’t done anything to help me with my brother, who is APPARENTLY bein’ seduced by his creepy, delinquent younger brother!” 

Stretch sighed, bringing a hand to his head, “ i just feel so utterly alone with this. i can’t ask any of my friends. Sans isn’t pickin’ up my calls.”

Sans? Corn thought, pinning his back to the wall to hide himself, he shoved Asgore back with a hand and the goat monster asked, “ What? What’s wrong?” in a hushed tone. “ Shhh.” Corn said back, tilting his skull, straining to listen. 

Stretch took a long drag off his cigarette and Corn couldn’t deny they looked incredibly similar, eerily so. That and that this guy was kinda attractive, I mean he preferred monsters shorter and more built, but the guy clearly took care of how he looked. 

“ Abra cadabra, my friend.” Madjick replied and Stretch cocked his skull to the side. Madjick chuckled, staring at the disgruntled skeleton with strange eyes from underneath his hat, “ That’s a thing you to say to someone when they’re too stressed out.” Corn watched cautiously, dryly noting it most definitely was not. Madjicks HAD to say magic words before they could anything else. Everyone in New Home knew that. 

“ Oh.” Stretch replied, “ That’s cool.” Corn squinted, who the fuck was this skeleton? Was it a joke they had or-? 

“ I think what you need is a de-stressor.” Madjick pulled his hand inside his jacket, “ I got the shit you need right here, Stretch.” 

“ really?” the skeleton replied and Madjick nodded, “ Hocus pocus.” He pulled out a small plastic baggy full of white powder. “ Special K, my friend. Take those worries of yours right away. Even better than your sweet mary jane.” Stretch looked to it temptingly. “ is it dangerous?” 

Corn felt one his sockets twitch, um, HELLO? It was Ketamine! Of course, it was dangerous! Sans had drilled to him again and again which drugs were safe and which were not. Magic drugs were the only things that could affect skeletons, and had a more potent effect on other monsters. An overdose, an overabundance of foreign magic, for someone like a skeleton, could easily mean death. A confusion of magical signals and your body would just shut down. Turn to the dust from which it came. 

“ Course not, just like pot, my friend. You can smoke it and it’ll take you somewhere else. Please and thank you, don’t you trust me, Stretch?” 

“ sure.” Stretch replied earnestly and Corn wondered if he was being sarcastic. “ well, how much?” Stretch asked and Madjick raised a hand, a smirk wide and curled under his pointy curved nose. “ On me, friend.” 

“ woah, really? awesome, man.” Stretch eagerly took the bag and Corn watched him with skeptical and confused eyes. Uh, did he really not see the harm in that? Madjick was tryin’ to get him addicted-obviously. Corn re-looked him up and down and noticed the expensive silver watch and name brand sneakers the similarly looking stranger wore. And Corn could understand why, not only was this guy hot and young, he was also loaded. 

Stretch said casually, “ i should probably be off, sorry for ventin’, heh.” 

“ Alakazam.” Stretch lifted a socket in confusion and Madjick replied, “ Means, no problem round here.” 

“ Oh, cool, heh, see ya.” Stretch gave a calm wave and tucked the Special K in his hoodie’s large pocket, joining with the weed he had just purchased. He turned and started off in their direction. Corn felt the urge to hide. If this guy knew Sans, he didn’t want word slipping round he was out here. Though he found it odd Sans would know someone so clueless, someone affluent and good-looking. Some jealousy rose up in Corn as he pulled up his hood and pulled his hands in his pockets, angling himself away from the alley’s entryway. Why would Sans be hanging around a normal like this? Corn thought in disgruntlement. M-maybe he just thought he heard M’lord’s name? He wished he could doubt it. But he had heard it so clearly. 

Asgore took his cue and pulled out his phone, leaning up against the wall, pretending to look through it- albeit Papyrus thought he still looked pretty obvious. Corn heard Stretch begin to walk off in the opposite direction and wondered if the stranger had even bothered to look both ways after a drug transaction- he hadn’t. Then Corn waited a minute and Asgore was looking at him expectantly. “ it was nothin’.” Corn whispered quietly. “ just another customer. rude to interrupt.” Asgore nodded with sullen eyes, “ Yes, I know, now hurry up and get what you need. You know I hate being among these kinds of monsters.”

Papyrus nodded and entered into the alleyway where Madjick greeted him, grinning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	28. Dead Cod and Damaged Souls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter so much. It makes me have so many feels by the end. I update every Sat-Sun! I hope you all are enjoying the story! Feel free to leave a comment! Oh, and check out my book if you haven't! That would be awesome of you! <3 Link in author notes at bottom of page!

Sans was scrolling on his phone, looking at pictures on his Undernet feed. He chuckled lightly at the most recent bee movie meme one of his fellow memers had posted. Truly a work of artistic integrity. His eyes paused as the pictures of Blue and Edge popped up. His sockets widened. W-woah. He straightened up. " hey Pap!" he called into the other room, Papyrus was scrambling around, getting his things together for class. 

" Y-Yes, brother?" Papyrus replied with some effort, straining as he pulled his jacket from the door hinges. The end of it had gotten stuck while closing the door, in a rush, and now, Papyrus couldn't get free! 

Sans re-scrolled through the pictures. He saw they were reposted by Dogressia, a woman in the police force who lived a few streets down. 'Ah, young love-heart emoji- It's so nice to see Blue coming out of his shell. Such a nice boy.' Sans clicked the link to follow the post back to original page and saw Blue's profile, his icon a picture of him and Stretch, smushed together in a bounding hug. He thought they looked cute there. 

Sure enough, he saw the same, implication heavy photos and if they weren't clear enough, Blue had written a caption in all caps. " THE MAGNIFICENT SANS HAS A NEW BOYFRIEND! MWEH HEH HEH!" under the photos. Sans was shocked but also somewhat relieved, I mean apparently their dad had been wrong about Pap and Blue being an item. 

" is Blue datin' Edge?" he asked, angling his skull to better project his voice out of the living room and down the spacious hallway. Papyrus paused his struggling and stilled. What a strange question! 

" Goodness, no! Blue would never be with a bully like that!" Papyrus then continued his fighting with the door hinges-it was in there good.

Classic lifted an eye socket in skepticism, glancing through the pictures again. Yeah, he was pretty sure this wasn't a case of mistaken identity on his part. He saw a dozen or so comments below. One being from BadAssSkeleton64: ‘Hot, babe.' Sans felt his skin crawl. He followed the link to Edge's account and saw the same pictures posted there, though without any caption.

" are ya absolutely sure?" he questioned and Papyrus scoffed in slight amusement, his brother was being so silly! " Of course! I think I know my best friend a little bit, brother!" Papyrus frowned and rubbed his lower jaw. This was not working! He need to think of another solution! It was stuck pretty bad! 

Sans looked curiously back down the hall and the question floated on his tongue, " so, uh, i'm pretty sure this is wrong, but uh, you're not like. . .together with Blue, right?" Classic quickly clarified, " and by together i mean dating, not together in the same room." Sans felt himself grow some sweat, more and more as a few seconds passed. 

" Dating?! Goodness, you startled me speechless!" 

Sans chuckled in relief as Papyrus explained, " Oh no, never! Not that he's not amazing! He is! I just don't know if we'd work well together as boyfriends! He's so himself and I'm so myself and honestly-he can be a little competitive." Papyrus gave a little laugh as he took his bright red backpack off, unzipping it and pulling out his pencil pouch! He had the perfect solution to this stuck jacket problem! " I don't think I'd want to spend my whole life being out done by him! Nyeh heh heh! He'd probably brag about how his wedding tux was cooler than mine!" 

Sans chuckled too, amused and comforted by the light-hearted, very friendly tone his brother was using. " And anyway, he likes somebody else!" Pap informed, unzipping his pencil pouch and pulling out some orange handled scissors-perfect! 

Sans nodded with a grin, though Pap couldn't see him, and said, " i can see that." making his voice still loud so it could be heard down the hall. " i never woulda pictured him with Edge in a million years though." 

Papyrus snickered, what? With Edge? What kind of crazy idea was that? " I couldn't ever picture that either! Nyeh heh heh! That's funny, brother!" Papyrus went to lining up the scissors with the fabric and beginning to cut away in a jagged line. The idea of opening the door to get the fabric free never occurred to him. 

Classic scratched at his cheek, expression an uncomfortable smile, " well, what can i say? truth is stranger than fiction." He looked up to the ceiling and wondered what Red thought about it. He felt an urge brought on by curiosity to call him and ask, though he decided it'd be kind of awkward. They weren't really friends, though they had been off and on for years. The last split was junior year of high school and it was pretty abrupt and final. It was pretty weird, at least to Classic, after that. Stretch though. That was an interesting phone call he felt comfortable making. He was sure the tall, younger brother of Blue had some choice words about this new relationship. 

Papyrus straightened up, now smoothing down the side of his jacket he had mangled; shreds of fabric now hanging out. Grinning, he started into the living room. " What gave you that funny idea anyway?" he questioned and Sans turned his head to look over his shoulder, Pap popping into his gaze. Tall legs covered in blue leggings, a white collared shirt under his red scarf and red sports jacket. Sans blinked in wide concern at the side of the jacket. 

He turned and asked, " what happened to your coat, bro?" Papyrus looked down in slight surprise and then grinned cheerfully as he explained, " It got caught in my door so I used my trusty scissors to cut it free!" He put a proud hand to his lower jaw, smirking, " Pretty clever, wouldn't you say?" lifting one of his expressive sockets.

Sans blinked in surprise and then smiled slightly, a warm sigh leaving his mouth, " yeah, Pap. you showed that door who's boss, definitely." Papyrus beamed and replied, " I know!" excitedly. 

" but don't rub your victory in the door's face," Sans warned, Papyrus looked to him with interest. A cheeky expression on his face, the older skeleton explained, " it might cry then, so much it'll flood the whole house. so much so-we might need a COAT just to get around on." 

Papyrus stared at him, blinking in confusion, and Sans chuckled and waited for him to get it. " I. . .I feel like that was a pun. But I got lost in the setup." Papyrus revealed with a slightly disappointed expression. Sans chuckled, " like a boat! but a coat! l-like your jacket!" He shrugged, turning back to his phone, " eh, it's Monday. won't have the good stuff till at least Friday." 

Papyrus tried to scowl but a smile was trying to break through his teeth. " Goodness brother! What am I to do with you?! That leaves only three days of 'good' puns! And that is an oxymoron because no pun is ever good!" Sans laughed openly and looked back with loving eye sockets. " aw, don't say that, Pap. i know there has TIBIA a way to make ya like my jokes." 

Papyrus stiffened in surprise and then stamped a foot. " Sans! No! You're right! Your Monday puns are awful!" Sans laughed again and then looked to the empty spot on the couch beside him longingly. 

" you-you goin' to class?" he asked, looking back. Pap nodded. " Sure am! I should run too! I can't be tardy!" Pap checked his cool electronic watch with the time on it. Sans nodded, smiling ruefully. " well, alright, have a good class. we-we goin' meet up at Grillby's today?" 

Papyrus looked up and smiled, " Of course, we are. My class ends at two. I hope you're ok eating late. Is 3:30 alright with you, brother?" Sans nodded, feeling his soul warm. " ya know it, i-i'll see ya there, bro." Papyrus smiled warmly, face warming a little orange. 

" Perfect!” Pap replied and then asked, “ Hey I was wondering if you knew where dad was? I had a question for him. Oh, for you too!" 

Sans cocked a socket and asked, " bout what?" fully turning around, criss-cross applesauce on the shiny leather couch. A blanket hung around Sans’ shoulders, over his frumpy, unwashed clothes. 

" Nyeh heh heh! Wait till you hear! Some girls invited us to go hang out with them! They want to go drinking with us!" 

Sans looked like Papyrus' words were a dead cod Pap had just slapped him with. 

" what girls? drinkin'?" he replied, slightly alarmed in his tone. Who on Earth was hitting on Papyrus?! Did some girl get dared to ask him out? Sans wasn't bein' an asshole, that really happened their eighth grade year. And Pap was so excited! Until he showed up to the movie theatre and waited three hours, assuring Gaster, their chaperone, and Sans, who had tagged along, " She's just a little late I'm sure! We can't leave! She'll be so disappointed if her handsome date isn't here! Hold on, let me call her again!" Eventually Gaster coaxed him to leave, sympathy being all over the father's expression, " Maybe she just had some type of family emergency and can't get back to you right now." 

" Oh NO!" a younger Papyrus, voice even higher than it was now, had said, voice one of terror. " An emergency?! I hope she's alright!"

Sans couldn't decide if it would comfort him more to say she was probably fine or not, so he just offered vague sympathies like, " maybe her phone is dead." and, " it's ok, let's watch some MTT when we go home, that'll be fun, huh?" But Papyrus had seemed worried for her, so he was pretty quiet as Gaster drove them home.

Later in school, Sans heard what had happened, Red and Edge had laughed hysterically. Anna, the girl who hadn’t shown, stood Papyrus up on purpose, she had been asked to ask Papyrus out for a truth or dare. " Ugh! I didn't want to do it! He's such an autistic freak!" she had despaired.

" Oh my god! I feel SO bad for you, gurl."

" Yeah, honestly, what a loser." 

Two cod fish(freshly dead)-5.18  
Blue latex medical gloves- 2.13  
Neon spray paint can-1.45  
Bolt cutters-11.73  
Dog shit from Mr. Fell's yard? Priceless. 

A paper bag over his head, giant coat, stolen from his dad's closet, on, Sans had found Anna Steamson's locker. Snapped the lock off. Threw the dead fish inside. Spray painted the inside of it messily with all types of slurs. Then slammed it, and wearing the gloves, smeared the word 'SLUT' across the front in dog shit. Then he defaced a few of her friends' lockers with similar degradations with the neon spray before finding Edge's and Red's and doing the same. 'CUNT', 'DICK'. Wished he could hunt down every person who laughed, every person who even cracked a smile.

On the way home from the school, Red was hanging on the curb for some reason. " what's in the bag?" Red younger had asked. " none of ya business." Classic had retorted.

In coming days, the school was in an uproar over the incident. Anna Steamson cried and Papyrus was horribly distressed as he asked, “ Who could have done such an awful thing, brother?! I feel so terrible for her!” And Sans had nodded, " yeah, awful, bro. real bad." Red seemed more friendly to him after that, Classic had suspicions Red had an accurate running theory on who the paperbag-culprit really was. But Red never said anything and neither did he, and it was one of those things best left to time. 

" Yes drinking! Edge said they wanted to go to a bar! But we'll just have soda or something! I've thought it all out!" Papyrus explained happily, practically beaming, " Oh, I hope they have have milkshakes there!" 

" u-uh, ok, but what girls?" Sans questioned, looking concerned. 

" Some girls I just met! They were driving around the neighborhood! They said we met at a party but I don't remember anything like that! Do you think it was Blue's nineteenth party?" Papyrus replied, cocking his head in innocent curiosity. 

Sans frowned at him and said, " i don't think so, Pap." offering honestly, " just us, Alphys, and Blue's dad was there." 

" Maybe it was some of Alphys' friends?" Papyrus offered, thinking it wasn't too strange. 

" uh, i don't think so, Pap." Sans revealed with an unhappy expression. " and anyway, is a bar really your style?" 

Papyrus shrugged simply, " Why not? I love trying new things, brother! Not like SOME lazybones." Papyrus raised his sockets into a japing critical gaze. Sans nodded slowly, but h-he didn't like the idea of Pap going out to some bar with strange women. 

" Are you going to come?" Papyrus asked, " They invited you!" 

" they did?" Sans was thoroughly confused. 

" Sure did! The one girl said her friend was very interested in meeting you!" 

Considering all the information, Sans still felt wary about it. He wasn't quite sure it was a wise plan but, on the other hand, I mean maybe they just wanted to grab drinks platonically? Though since Pap didn't know them, they chose him based only on his looks. They didn't want to hook up, did they? " well, i don't know, Pap." he said softly but Papyrus encouraged, " Come on! I already said yes, brother! You simply must accompany me!"

Sans frowned and guessed he couldn't really stop Pap from going, though he could tell him what he thought was best. " wh-what if she thinks it's a date, Pap?" Sans asked and Papyrus chortled, " What?! A date?! Don't be silly! I think I would know if someone was flirting with me." He put a hand to his chest and looked off to the wall, amused, " Seriously, brother, you must give me some credit." 

Sighing, Sans realized he probably wouldn't be able to talk Pap out of it. Well, better he be there to make sure nothing bad happened. " you're right, ok, i'll go." 

" Really?! Oh my STARS! Thank you, Sans!" Papyrus exclaimed brightly and happily. He ran over some excited steps and wrapped Sans in a sudden hug, pressing Sans abruptly against the couch cushion; Sans' sockets dark, big saucers. He chuckled nervously as Pap released him. Pap hesitated a moment, his large, red-gloved hands on Sans' shoulders. Sans looked up at him, blinking widely, and then Papyrus laughed again and pulled away, raising his arm in goodbye. " I've got to run! I'm going to be late!" He went a few steps and said, " I love you!" grinning. Sans blushed strongly as Pap opened the door, " u-uh, i-i-bye!" Papyrus giggled as he shut the door behind him and started out. Sans heard his brother's shiny, crayon red boots skip down the steps and vanish down the drive. 

Sans stared at the door for a few minutes, face slowly burning a steady blue. Aw, Christ, why was Pap so. . .so perfect? 

Everything was the opposite of perfect. Sans was a hundred percent convinced he wanted to die. 5000%! For once his little brother's feelings made sense to him!

" Sit still, sunshine. Your squirming is not helping in any way." Dark and lyrical like a requiem from a baritone. " Shut it, dopehead! I didn't ask for your help!" Sans snarled. He snapped over his shoulder, sharp teeth and movement imitating a vengeful guard dog. 

Gaster pulled back from the large metal basin filled with cool water, which Sans sat it. He had his dark blue sweater pulled up to his elbows, exposing many scars and scabs on the inside of his white skin; his hands covered tightly in blue medical latex gloves. The elder man scowled at his son. " And you'd rather Undyne scrub you clean?" 

Sans' skull heated slightly and he looked grumpily towards the front of the room. " No." He didn't want that woman to see him undressed, with how blatantly sexual and crude she was. Though it was inappropriate for any woman to see a man, she wasn't married to, naked, in any context. He supposed he did prefer his father, if he had a choice. Still-he gingerly folded his arms over his scarred ribcage, he didn't like this either. It made him feel vulnerable and stupid. He was self-conscious about the many, vertical scars of his ribcage, he kept searching Gaster's face for a sign of distress or disappointment, disgust or shock, of something? But his father's face didn't show anything. He looked almost uninterested in the whole ordeal, as if it was a chore. 

" Then shut your mouth." Gaster said sharply, working his hands over Sans' back ribs firmly, rolling his fingers in small circles. Sans gripped onto the sides of cold bassin, expression holding back distress. His bones, now a leathery brown color in places, began to shed file-like fragments of themselves, being dead and useless to their host moving forward. The raw areas under the harsh burns burnt and whined at the feeling of the water and medicated soap. 

" D-don't tell me what to do." Sans bit out and Gaster applied a little more pressure to the wounds he was cleaning, Sans felt a tear or two of pain come to his eyes. He shook his head to try as if to attempt to throw the droplets from his vision. The best way he could describe it to you was the word pain. Not throbbing, not aching, just pain. A scorching openness that cried in discomfort no matter what you did. 

When he woke up, Gaster had already checked him out of the hospital, Alphys too, strings pulled-they usually wouldn't let monsters in this condition leave. Well, maybe if they were at a human-run place. But regardless, Sans had woken up in a part of the underground infirmary he was compromisingly familiar with. Someone had put up sheets to separate him from the normal comings and goings. 

Alphys had got the brunt of it, the car bomb being buried somewhere in the passenger side of the car, that and she was far worse off because she was made of meat; meat full of precious life-giving organs and intricate networks of arteries and veins. She had things that could pop and break and make her bleed out quickly. Protective scales could only do so much when facing razor sharp shrapnel and explosive force. 

Sans would logically fair better being only bones, blood, and a complex magical system that was his entire consciousness. The bomb couldn't harm his magical parts, it not being magic, and bleeding out, for him, was difficult to do, as most of his blood only circulated the one bone it was trapped inside of; it didn't connect to other parts of his body. For example if you blew a hole in his femur, only the blood from his femur would spill, not blood from his whole body. Mostly he had burn damage, all over his body, focusing mostly on his chest and spine, but sneaking down to his pelvis and femurs too, where his clothing had covered. 

" Can I tell you not to get blown up like an idiot?" Gaster chided, eyes narrowed and angry, " I had to play fucking babysitter for your dog and now I'm playing nurse to you. I have better things to do than be on call for you." 

Sans rolled his eye lights harshly, wincing again as Gaster moved precise, but indelicate, hands down to his spine. " You don't have to do anything. I can bathe myself." 

" Darling, your hands are burnt, you couldn't pick up a ball, never mind clean away dead bone." 

" Well. . .I think I could." was Sans', he admitted, somewhat lame response. Gaster grunted in annoyance. " Just be glad I'm taking pity on you." he said. Sans whirled back on him, " I don't want your pity! If you don't care, then don't help!"

Gaster glared at him sharply as Sans went off, aggressive and loud, despite the fact he was naked in a tub of water- " You've always done that stupid shit! Left groceries on the table while we were kids, to somehow make up for the fact you were gone six out of seven days a week, probably to dope up in some alleyway and fuck some whore!" Sans stood up shakily, on his burnt legs, in anger, to get up and get dressed. He wouldn't take disrespect, not like some other skeleton he knew, he refused to just roll over and feel bad about himself! He would make you feel bad about it-he deserved better. He was magnificent and deadly. A God among monsters, and he would be treated as such or fight till he was knocked out to be treated as such. 

Gaster grabbed onto his arm, tight around one of the burns, and barked, " Sit down, drama queen. I'm not finished yet." 

Sans glared at him venomously, " No, I'm finished. I've been finished since I was a kid. I don't want you in my life anymore. You treat me and Pap like niffy cats you bought from the pet shop to amuse yourself, and then forget to feed and groom on a regular basis." Sans stuck a brownish thumb with a raised texture, to his once white ribcage, splattered in charred dark brown color. " I'm tired of you joking about the things I care about and belittling me for your own fun and games! You're a useless, empty, old man and you always have been!" Sans stepped out of the tub and went to grab a black towel to cover himself and dry with. 

He grabbed onto the towel as Gaster's hands snatched his shoulders and slammed him into the nearest wall. Sans gave a scream as his burns were hit with fresh waves of pain. " Like you're SO much better!" Gaster hissed like a snake, blue and orange star eyes glinting like dark dusk and blazing candle glow. Gaster slammed him against the wall again and Sans gave a cry as he pushed out against him. " You act like you want to 'save' that stupid little brother of yours, like you 'love' him, but you're just a power-hungry brat who gets off to his groveling!" 

" Hands off, bastard!" Ras yelled, pain racing through him and his chest pounding in fear. He pushed out but, his arms were too weak or Gaster's were too strong and the two of them stayed in place; Gaster glowering down at him like bird of prey looks to a rotten worm.

" You say it's to 'help' him, to make him 'strong', but that's fucking shit. You just like to torture him, to make him step onto the nail bed, one single nail at a time." Ras glared at him hatefully, " You don't know what you're-!"

" I know he raped you." 

Sans' eyes widened and he shrunk. His burns did not hurt anymore. 

" That's probably the cause of his depression in the first place, suppressed guilt over it." Gaster stated, matter-a-factly " That and you make his life a living hell everyday! To try, try and make yourself feel better, to feel bigger, but you can't, Sans." The black etched star eyes bored into Sans' sockets as he pressed himself back into the wall, pure stunned despair on his face. " You're always going to feel weak. Because you can't forget it. You can't move on. You look at him, and all you can remember is that night, the alcohol on his breath, how fucking humiliated and terrified you were." 

Sans was convinced the world was dying. The air just up and drying. The seas draining. The wind ceasing to blow. 

" You really think I didn't know? Of course I fucking did, how do you think I knew when to get groceries and when to call monsters when the AC unit up and broke? Maybe you’re cats, but I'm the cat-keeper and there is nowhere you are safe from me. You couldn't even pay the abortion bill yourself- you stole money from me. You were so young then." Gaster smiled, " He violated you so young." Sans shoved an vengeful and disturbed hand into his father's face, pushing him away, chest choked for words and aching in hurt and the feeling of fingers crawling all over him. 

" You're wrong!" he cried, forcing himself not to cry, " You're wrong! It's not about that anymore! I forgive him! I've moved on! You think I'm haunted by that? I haven't thought about it in years! I-it doesn't matter to me anymore!" Sans claimed loudly in hysterics, " He's a dog and I'm his master and he knows that now! I'm in charge and I'll kill anyone who ever threatens me again!" Sans was breathing hard and Gaster stepped away and nodded. 

" I know." he stated. He stared to the bath water, " I know." He looked calmly to it and Sans just stood there, naked and raggedly breathing. 

" Do you want to know why I was never around?" Gaster asked. Sans was still reeling, head a poisonous stew of memories he fought so hard to keep away. His burns began to hurt again. He put his hands on his knees and felt like he was going to vomit. 

Gaster waited, " Do you?" he asked and Sans rubbed at his eyes in pain. Stars, God, why-why did he have to feel? Feeling was so weak. His body was scarred and burnt and peeling dead bone layers to the ground, like curling, rotten toenails, but it still felt stronger than his soul. He-he thought nobody knew. He thought it was something he would die with. 

Gaster waited some more and Sans looked to him. Sans leaned back against the wall and brought one hand to cover his eyes. Don't cry. Don't cry. " It doesn't really matter. No matter what was going on in your life, if you cared, you'd be there. But you didn't. But you weren't. That's it. I don't care much for excuses-you can ask my 'dog' that and he'll testify, I'm just tired of being miserable and scared and exploding.” 

Sans curled one of his hands back into the wall slowly. “ You're right, maybe there is a part of me that likes to see him suffer, or there was, there definitely was, but. . ." Sans sighed and lowered his hand from his eyes, " It died when he tried to hang himself from our kitchen chair. Maybe you don't love him, maybe you don't love me, maybe you don't love anyone or anything, but I do." Sans looked at him harshly, locking down his upsetting feelings. 

Gaster may know, but he had always known probably, just like he had said, so nothing really had changed. He had known a minute ago when they had spoke and now he still did. Being embarrassed and crushed over it wouldn't help. Sans had meant what he said, he HAD moved on. And some days he didn't even think about it. Some days it DIDN'T matter to him anymore. It was five years ago. It wasn't like it haunted him every step. Just occasional steps, in dark rooms while alone, and in bad dreams. But that's all it was now-a bad dream. 

" And he's hurt me," Sans agreed, " but I've hurt him, and I keep on hurting him. I don't know how not to hurt him because I was born this way and I think I'll always be this way.” Sans looked to his father confidently, “ I do want him to get better though. I don't want him to die. I want him to live. Because I just do. Because he makes me so mad, I want to beat him till he's black and blue but-" Sans shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest, closing his sockets a moment, " -a part of me needs him. Maybe it's weak, or foolish, or damaged, but I do care about him. And I'm just trying my best for him. That's all I'm doing." Sans looked up with serious sockets, " And I wanted you to try too. That's all I ever wanted." 

Gaster shrugged, looking to him, " Still harboring those longings for daddy, are we, darling?" smirking. Sans sighed, straightening himself from the wall, " WANTED." he corrected. " Now all I want is for you to finish this bath so I don't have to see you till the next time I blow up." 

Gaster chuckled, amused, squatting down by the basin, " Glad you see it my way." Sans nodded and went and got back in, shuddering at the water temperature. " Would it have killed you to make it a little warmer?" he asked in annoyance.

Gaster replied, " Warmness would make the burns sting more." straightly.

" Oh, ok . . .then it's fine I guess."

" Yes, it's fine." 

Sans scratched at the unburnt area under his socket, " Hey. . ."

" Yes?"

" Th-thanks for calling Asgore about Papyrus, I. . .I obviously couldn't do it." 

Gaster was quiet for a moment.

" I guess a part of you cares enough to do that?" Sans said in an almost joking manner. Sans felt the thin hands gentle on his back, " Yes. I suppose a part does."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	29. Red-eyed Humans and Fearsome Guard Dogs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch ! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thanks so much! (Also sorry this chp is a day late :,) Busy weekend. Luv you all <3

The air was crisp as Blueberry waited on the porch of the purple townhouse, large red leaves scattered throughout the small yard from a leafless tree of thick, dark oak. He shivered and raised his blue handkerchief to protect his chilly teeth. He wore a light blue fleece coat covered in white snowflakes over gray, thick materiel pants, tucked into electric blue boots. He wore white fluffy earmuffs over the sides of his skull, gloves of soft baby blue on his hands. He rubbed his hands together as he waited for the door to open. It quickly did, lighting the lowly lit porch with warm light. A smiling goat man stood in front of him, he was giant! It had taken Sans a little bit of time to get used to that after Pappy had introduced him to Asgore about two years ago now. He always felt like he had to look up to some other story of a building to see Mr. Asgore’s head!

The goat monster was tall and broad, covered in heavy white fur, getting thicker for the winter, and had flowing locks of gold, that loosely and naturally fell around his neck and down from his chin. He wore a button-up jacket of blue with a purple sweater under it. He wore simple brown pants and smooth dress shoes of worn leather. Perched upon the end of his muzzle were small, round glasses that looked comically too small for his large dark eyes, seemingly miles away down his long face. A warm smile painted the monster’s face.

" Sans! How wonderful you could make it." 

Sans chuckled, " Mweh heh heh! The Magnificent Sans wouldn't miss it for the world!" Asgore moved to let him in and Sans entered, carefully wiping his boots on the rug before taking them off. Asgore looked back into the tan, pretty, quaint, and welcoming living room. " Oh, Chara! Sans is here." Sans heard the pitter-patter of feet scurry quickly over wooden planks. He was smiling as a human child, only slightly shorter than himself ran into the room, nearly slipping with their speed, wearing only green socks on their feet. 

" Hi, Sans!" Chara gave a happy wave, their eyes warm rubies and hair a gentle caramel colored, cut short before their shoulders. They wore a romper of green and yellow stripes and brown shorts. They grinned as they approached.

" Human!" Sans greeted happily, pulling Chara into a hug. Chara giggled, such a silly skeleton. " How are you?!" Blue enthused, releasing Chara and Chara replied, " Good, how about you, Sans?" 

Asgore chuckled in endearment as Sans began to ramble, " The Magnificent Sans is amazing, human! This afternoon I made a fresh platter of tacos!" Blue fumbled to grab the small tupperware he had tucked on the inside of his coat. " I even brought you some of my astounding cooking!" Chara giggled, looking happy, though Asgore could read slight fear in their expression as Sans pulled out the clear container of blackened shell and questionable contents. Asgore raised an eyebrow in slight concern and Sans caught his gaze. " Would you like any for the road, Mr. Asgore?" he asked with a smile, " I only brought two but-"

Asgore held up a flat hand, giving a calm laugh, " I think you and Chara can take care of the tacos. I ate earlier. But thank you." Asgore smiled warmly and Sans smiled back, " Alright! Sounds good!" Checking his aged watch, Asgore felt a bit of worry. He couldn't be late. That would be absolutely rude. 

" Sans, there are some pizza rolls in the freezer and leftover chicken nuggets in the fridge." Pausing, feeling he should elaborate, this was Sans WITHOUT Papyrus after all, the older goat man added, " There is instructions on the rolls' bag, just follow them EXACTLY if you two decide to cook them." He looked to Chara with a slightly concerned glance, " Chara has seen me do it many times so if you have any questions, I'm sure they could help." Chara nodded happily to Sans, " I sure can." they added calmly. 

Sans nodded with a bright thumbs up. " No problem, Mr. Asgore! You're dealing the master chef, Sans! I'll cook up those rolls nice and crispy!" Asgore gave a small laugh, a bit of sweat on the side of his face. He looked to Chara and Chara giggled with a shrug. Deciding to just leave it to the stars, Asgore stated, " Alright, I'll be back soon, my child." affectionately to Chara. Chara nodded and waved goodbye. " Sans, try and make sure they're in bed by nine, it's a school night." Blue nodded, " Leave it to me!" he replied. 

With a final smile and slight sigh, Asgore made his way out the door, waving one last goodbye to Chara. He closed the door softly, locking it tightly behind him.

Sans looked to Chara and clapped his hands excitedly, " What fun activity do you want to do first, human? Action figures? Dolls? Twister?!" Sans was the reigning champion of twister. Stretch was never as coordinated and always slipped out of place and Chara had weak little human parts that trembled and gave out if they had to hold a hard pose too long. Chara gave a loud 'hmmmm', putting a small pale finger to their mouth. 

" I think we should get some chocolate from the kitchen!" they chirped.

Sans frowned slightly, " But Chara, you know you're not-" He was cut off by Chara racing away, laughing. " Chocolate! Chocolate!" they cheered and Sans had some sweat on his skull as he pleaded, " Not till after dinner, human! You know what Asgore says!" He ran after them, passing through a small but lovingly decorated dining room and comfy, soft-looking sitting chair. He skidded into the small kitchen to find the human child had climbed upon one of the light wood counters, and were opening up a high cabinet they were clearly not supposed to get able to get into. 

" No! No! No, human!" Sans exclaimed as he grabbed Chara around the waist and lifted them down carefully. " Asgore says no chocolate till after dinner! And even then, you're only supposed to have one piece!" Chara giggled mischievously, " I don't know what you're talking about. Asgore lets me have as many pieces as I want!" Sans frowned as he put them down on the ground. 

" Don't lie to me, human! I know he does NOT do that!" Sans put his hands on his hips disapprovingly, suddenly feeling a little warm. The air inside the apartment was actually a nice 71 or so. He began to strip his soft gloves and earmuffs, " Boy, it's warm in here." 

Chara smiled placidly, " Yup! Dad thinks I'm going to get a cold or something with the cold weather so he's been keeping it like a sauna in here!" 

Sans smiled and said, " Oh, well, it's nice, I like it warm." He smiled happily, " Reminds me of cooking and campfires! Man, I wish we could make a campfire! I love campfires, though the Magnificent Sans has never actually gone camping before, but I did go fishing once! Have you ever gone camping, human?" Blue asked with eagerness. 

Chara shook their head no. " Asgore has never taken me. . ." They got quieter, " and back in foster care. . ." They trailed off and Sans blinked widely. Chara smiled slightly, crayon red eyes finding one of the wall of the room, they shrugged a little, " You don't really get to be choosey." 

Sans nodded and then put a finger up as a lightbulb lit up his skull, " We should go camping together! You, me, Asgore, and Pappy of course! My dad can come too! We'll do all kinds of fun camping stuff! Like roasting marshmallows over the fire, and playing by the lakeside, and going kayaking as the sun sets and you can still see the pink and yellow over the dark blue water!" Blue gushed romantically. He was thinking about Stretch in a lifejacket, laughing softly at some silly pun he had made about the gorgeous sunset, Sans would scold him but would only wish he made another. 

" That does sound fun!" Chara chirped, wandering out of the kitchen to the dining table. Sans turned and followed them. " Buuuttttt," Chara grew a cheeky look, sitting down in one of the antique-looking dining chairs, " -are you sure there isn't anyone elsseee you wanna invite?" Sans blinked widely and said, " Oh, Pap-pap and his family could come if they wanted! I don't think you've met him, but he's really nice! You'd love him!" 

Chara raised their toffee-colored brows and probed with a cheeky grin, " No one a little more rugged? Dangerous? A little more 'bad boy'?" Blue blinked in confusion, " Uh, I don't think so?" he replied and Chara kicked their legs out under the table in excitement. 

" You silly skeleton! I know you're dating Hot Papyrus!" 

" H-hot who?" Blue replied, a slight blush crossing his face at the very mention his younger brother could be considered 'hot'. 

" Hot Papyrus!" Chara chirped again, pulling out their phone from their shorts' pocket, " You know! The bad boy with the red truck!" Blue sighed slightly as he asked, " Y-you saw those?" realizing the child was talking about Edge. 

Chara nodded eagerly, pulling up the pictures Blue was sure would haunt him to the end of time. " You guys are SUCH a cute couple! It's so adorable!" they commented happily, " Is he your first boyfriend?!" Blue blushed as he realized that other monsters(and humans) would see Edge that way. I-it was fake to him, but even after they broke it off, monsters would probably still believe it had been real. That made him feel a little weird honestly. He had always imagined his first boyfriend would be someone he really loved, someone who was kind and tender and funny and selfless. Not some jerk he was dating only to get someone else's attention. It made him feel kind of dirty. He was deceiving so many monsters into thinking he really cared about Edge. He was making a mockery of love and relationships in general. He was using them as a tool to get what he wanted. Pappy would be ashamed of him. 

" M-Mweh, I don't know, I-I don't really want to talk about it." he said, fidgeting in his seat some. A lot of things had been making him feel guilty actually since him and Edge started fake dating, for one Edge had told him he had ignore Pappy's calls and that was actually beginning to physically injure Sans. So much so he had to leave his phone locked away in a nightstand drawer instead of on him. That was where it still laid. 

Chara blinked widely in confusion. " Why not? I mean, I'll respect that. I just thought you'd be happy I guess." They shrugged innocently and Blue chuckled nervously, not wanting them to feel guilty. 

" It's ok, human, I am happy. Uh, I just, um, was a little embarrassed you found out I guessed." he covered, not overly smoothly for he wasn't great at lying. 

Chara giggled. " Oh, ok, sorry, I hope I wasn't too in your business. I do follow you on Undernet though." Blue nodded, " R-right, it's alright." Chara watched with curiosity as Blue looked off to the wall and fidgeted some more. Being merciful, they suggested, " Action figures sound fun! We should dress them in barbie dresses and have a fashion show!" 

Blue grinned brightly, being completely torn from his bad mood, " Oh, oh, I call being the judge!" he enthused.

Corn cringed as Asgore opened the door. " Chara!" he barked as he came in, " If you don't have your homework and chores done, you're going to be in a lot of trouble, young man!" Corn came in begrudgingly behind the larger monster, wrapped in his heavy coat. Corn looked and saw the ashtray on the dingy and undusted brown stand in the small opening room. There were some children's shoes scattered by a beat up looking shoe rack. Asgore looked back to Papyrus and smiled slightly, " I'll make you up a space on the couch to sleep." Corn nodded vaguely and wondered what was keeping Sans. He abruptly felt a spike of worry. This had never happened before. Sans not coming home when it was this late, a-at least not in a long time. M-maybe something serious had happened? Papyrus shuddered, feeling like every one of his bones was scrapped by a dozen unforgiving needles. He didn't like that thought. Not at all. Sans made his life miserable but. . .he looked down to Asgore's carpet and suddenly wondered, w-wouldn’t it be easier to kill myself if somethin' happened to M'lord though? The answer was yes, definitely. He wouldn't he harassed for Wednesday jogs or even tasks like brushing his teeth or showering, he'd be free. But. . .his mind roamed to horrible images of Ras surrounded by enemy gang members, cornered, outnumbered, and outgunned. 

'Well, if it isn't one of the Queen's scrappy little dogs?' the enemy leader would jeer, 'Shouldn't have ran so far from home, pup. We're CAT PEOPLE on the King's side of the tracks.' 

Corn felt very afraid. S-Sans could be in danger? It was very possible. And here he was, about to have a bed of blankets made on Asgore's couch! I need to get to him, Papyrus thought with determination. 

Asgore turned and shuffled past Papyrus, locking the door behind the skeleton, Papyrus suddenly felt like a prisoner. He put his hands in his hoodie pockets nervously. Asgore then strode past him and asked, " Do you prefer the shapes or shells, Papyrus?" a slightly joking expression on the older man's face. 

" i. . .i need to pee. where's your bathroom?" 

Asgore chuckled, lifting a eyebrow in confusion. " Pee? You're a skeleton if you forgot." 

" i. . .i drank a lot of human soda earlier. we have to pass things that aren't magic." 

Asgore shrugged, " Help yourself. Second door up the stairs. If you see the brat, send him down." Papyrus nodded curtly and started up, beginning to feel tense. H-he was going to sneak out. M'lord would be really fuckin' angry if he found out, b-but Sans might not be around at all to yell at him anymore if Papyrus didn't do something. What could a useless cob of corn do? Nothing. But he was more than that. He was a dog. A wild dog, more capable of violence then his frequent groveling behavior allowed one to easily believe. Papyrus was loyal to one monster-only one master- he always had been, and if Sans needed him, he was coming whether Sans allowed it or not! 

He opened the bathroom door, the lights were already on, and closed the door and locked it. The room was a small square, barely a foot of cracked tile between the old tub and dirty sink. He turned on the sink’s water, knowing a trick or two about getting out of places unheard. He paused a second to look at himself in the mirror. His skull looked undersized and gaunt in the heavy, dirty, fur lining of his black coat. Like the top of a burnt match. His scars painted a razor-wire, faded picture. He-he could do this. 

He turned and climbed onto the toilet seat, his loose dirty converse hanging their laces down unenthusiastically. He began to quickly fiddle with the window. His sockets jutted open wide as suddenly, he heard, “ What is he doing?" 

"Shhh!" 

The first voice was scratchy and high, the second soft-spoken and gentle-sounding. He flinched, freezing, and then looked back irritably. These two. He hopped down, knowing the two voices could only come from two places. He pulled the shower curtain back with harsh, metallic pulling of the rings against the bar. It was empty. Then he squatted down and pulled open the cabinet under the sink. He saw a small human child, wearing a black sweater with red stripes on it. Black shorts. Light brown hair that hung messily around scared, scarlet eyes. In their arms, was a small, dog-like creature of gray-white, with four short legs and dark gray hair that fell under cat like ears and sphere like growths that emerged from each side of the creature's face. It had ominous eyes and a maw of pitch. White pinpricks for eye lights in its eyes. It wore a small sweater of faded blue and yellow. 

" P-Papyrus?!" Chara exclaimed in shock, " I thought you were Asgore!" 

" obviously." Papyrus retorted and Temmie glowered at him, " gross. why is smiley trashbag here? i thought you had finally killed yourself." 

" Temmie!" Chara scolded, crawling out from under the counter, Papyrus scowling at the small creature in the child's arms. " Don't say that!” The child frowned at Temmie before looking up to Corn. “ I-It's so good to see you! I-I was worried about you!" Chara explained and Temmie commented bitterly, " Weeping every other night and keeping me up, I hope you feel good about yourself, skeleton."

" Temmie!" Chara protested again, looking horrified. Papyrus rolled his eye lights. As if that was true. " listen, i don't have time for this." he said sharply, " i've got to get out of here and find Sans."

" Wh-what? Why?" Chara asked in concern, " Is he ok?" Papyrus shook his skull no but said, " i don't know, but i have a bad feelin'." 

" So, why are you sneaking out?" Temmie asked intrusively, " Why didn't you just go find him? Ugh, why are you here at all?" the small creature's face being contorted in annoyance. This skeleton brought Chara nothing but pain, in Temmie’s opinion, it'd be best if he really did finally permanently cut himself from the picture.

Chara ignored Temmie and asked, " Do you need any help? I'm here for you." Sometimes kindness was all you needed, Chara chose to believe that. Maybe Papyrus coming here tonight was fate, he was supposed to see them here and they were supposed to show him goodness and mercy and that would change his mind. That would make Papyrus realize there was reason to live. Reason to not let go. 

Papyrus said, " just wait in here and don't leave the bathroom." He turned to the window and said, " i'm goin' to need a head start." Chara watched him with big eyes and Temmie hissed with frustration, " Don't be stupid, Chara! Go tell Asgore! He'll beat your hide if you cover for this low-life!" Temmie felt a little desperate. Chara debated it mentally and then stuttered, " C-Can I come with you?" 

" What?!" Temmie exclaimed in horror. Chara blurted to Papyrus, " I-I want to help! We can find him together!" 

Corn had climbed up onto the toilet seat and pulled open the window, the noise of it sliding muffled by the running water. Corn shrugged, looking to them apathetically, " You just don't want to be here to face your dad."

" N-not true!" the child fought and Temmie shrieked, " DON'T! This is insane!" 

" I CARE." Chara said with determination, their red eyes gleamed, they stepped forward, " I know that was never enough for you, but I do. I care about Sans too." 

Corn held their gaze for a moment and for a second, he weakened. He really had hurt this kid, hadn't he? He had hurt Sans. So many monsters who didn't deserve it. He looked back out the window, the cool breeze rushed over his skull, the black of the night beckoning him like a temptress. He looked back, putting a foot up on the window ledge. Temmie was sputtering in horror, " Trash bag! What are you doing?! You'll die!" Papyrus looked back at Chara and Chara waited with a desperate expression. " ok." Papyrus said with a serious expression. Chara's face transformed into nothing but a smile. " just keep up." 

Chara hurried over and Temmie barked, " Chara! Stop! You'll get in so much trouble! Chara!" Their small black eyes went to the lingering, two-story drop with fear. " This is dangerous!" Papyrus climbed up into the windowsill, having to crouch he was so tall. His hands dug into the sides, his legs feeling weak and his balance suddenly off as he stared down at the drop below. His sockets darted around and he saw a fire escape to his left, ebony and shiny in the moonlight. It was about seven feet away. He could make that. Maybe. Chara was behind him, hands putting Temmie down on the floor. 

" You don't have to go if you don't want to go, Temmie. I'm sorry." 

" Y-you shouldn't want to go either! Listen to yourself!" Corn felt his soul begin to speed and then he got a good angle on the sill and threw himself off into the air. 

The sensation of falling. Corn, in all his attempts, had never flung himself from a building. He had fantasized about it before, his bones breaking and shattering as they slammed to the concrete. Dust flying everywhere and Papyrus Gaster being no more. But in his daydreams, it was always a release, a release from his pain, the pain he always felt inside-the misery of doing nothing but sitting and your body wanting to destroy itself. But flying through the air now, nothing under his sneakers-under his careless laces, his bones and skull and mind, it felt like the opposite of a release. It felt like a sucking. A sucking of all the cold air inside of him. Adrenaline pounding and a weightlessness and a desperate, screaming blankness of the mind, begging for hard ground again, no matter what pain you felt. 

Corn heard a loud cry from behind as he crashed into the metal siding and his hands clawed out desperately for the metal. His head hurt from the impact but the sweat pouring down his skull and pulsing of utter panic and tension in his body left no room for it. His body dangled from the escape from the side railing. It was only a two story drop, he would probably live, probably. He began, with a groan, to attempt to pull himself up. Chara was crying, " Oh my God! Oh my God! Get up! Get up, Papyrus!" from behind him. Temmie had leapt up on the window sill, " Trashbag! Hurry! Jesus!" 

" Get off the fucking couch, Papyrus!" A snatching of the TV remote, " You're the laziest fucking excuse of a monster I've ever met!" 

A harsh pounding on his bedroom door. " Get out of bed before I have to come in there and drag you, you miserable mutt!" 

A memory, a voice that was Sans', but he couldn't place, " Get up, get up, please, God, look what you've done. Oh, get up. Get up. Look what you've done!" 

Papyrus gave a cry of pure passion as he pulled himself up with force he didn't know he had. His bones were underweight, they were weak, HE was weak, yet he hauled himself up fiercely, threw himself over the railing and tumbled down harshly onto the metal ground. He was breathing heavily as he shakily got to his feet. He looked over and Chara, still in the window, had tears in their eyes and Temmie looked relieved in a tense and terse way. 

He breathed raggedly to them and then said, " um, i think that was more dangerous than i thought, y-you should find another way down." 

He met them on the corner of the block, he felt like he was in the middle of the heist with how sweaty and nervous he was. Though he felt equally pumped, he hadn't felt that alive in so long! I-it was terrifying honestly! St-stars! He never wanted to die! . . .He never wanted to die.

Chara was running, out of breath, Temmie in their arms. " I-I distracted him by telling him I heard weird noises in the b-bathroom! But he'll break the door down soon! We have to hurry!" Papyrus nodded and they took off down the street sprinting. 

" I still think this is crazy and stupid!" Temmie commented angrily as they ran, sweat slicking the creature's off-white fur. They skidded to a stop at the corner of a busy street. Few monsters were on the streets but some shops still had their lights on. Fast cars rushed by. One of the displays had a dozen TVs, stacked on top of each other. It caught Papyrus' brief attention as Chara asked, " What way now?" Papyrus looked back to them and the newscaster from the sets of blaring TVs stared, 'In other news, there is now an update to the Car Bombing on Prince Asriel St, in a local parking garage. Police say, that a red Honda Civic was-'

" i-i was thinkin' of swingin' around to some bad parts of town and askin' around." Corn answered. 

" You don't even know where he is?!" Temmie blurted in outrage. 

'The victims, a male skeleton and a female lizarian, whose identities will be kept secret because of security concerns, were caught in the explosion at 12:34 today, December 1st, 201X.' 

Papyrus looked up in shock to the television screen. A male skeleton? A female lizarian? That sounded like-like Sans and Alphys! He approached the screens and Chara and Temmie turned their heads to follow him. He shoved some poor monster, who gave him a disgruntled grumble, to the side and took his place in the middle of the screens. 

'While eye witness reports say both victims left the scene alive, there is no current comment from the hospital about their current status. Police believe the bomb was operated from a remote-control detonation device and-'

Chara had come up to his side and looked to Corn's face, that was stretched in horror. " Papyrus?" they asked and Papyrus shook his head as if shaking away a cloud of toxic gas. 

" if he's dead. . ." Papyrus looked to the screens again, displaying pictures of the charred remainder of a car, destroyed debris all around it, his sockets looked so sad, " i'll never forgive myself." 

Papyrus stiffened in surprise as a small hand took his own, he looked to it and then to Chara's face. " He's not dead. We have to stay determined. We need to go to the hospital." They nodded and Papyrus slowly enclosed his large, thin, bony hand around their small soft one. " right." he said, feeling some strength from somewhere he didn't know he had it. 

He practically ran up to the hospitals' large desk, Chara and Temmie by his side. His frantic hand nearly knocked over a cup of pens. He looked to the monster secretary with urgency, " do you have a Gaster here? please, i need to see him straight away!" Chara nodded in urgency and Temmie barked, " And make it snappy!" The woman looked to them with dryness, then she looked away to her computer screen. " The skeleton?" she questioned and Corn nodded vigorously, " y-yes, him! i need to see him!" 

" B18. Visiting hours end in fifteen minutes though. How old are they?" 

" 13!" Papyrus snapped, grabbing the eleven year old's hand and beginning to drag them in the direction of the room, or the way he thought was to the room. 15 minutes? Was she joking? They could pry him from Sans' side when he was dust! 

It took forever to find the door, or maybe only a minutes and it just felt that way. Corn stared up at it and it seemed to be a castle's looming doors locking away a king on a throne and a fountain of gold. He bit down his fear and opened the door. It was what it was.

He was shocked to see Sans, sitting up??? Beside a different monster in the bed. Sans turned and looked to them, Corn immediately noticing the eye lights were wrong, they were red and smaller than Sans'. This Sans also lacked his brother's two most prominent scars over his sockets and had a shiny tooth of gold in his teeth, a lot like the one Corn had in his own mouth. This skeleton wore a black jacket over a red t-shirt and looked quite tired. He stood up slowly with surprise at their entrance. Chara gasped slowly as they made their way into the room, squeezing past Corn. Corn looked to the monster in the hospital bed. Chara looked back with scared eyes, " Papyrus, why does he look just like you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	30. The Jerk, Idiot, and Worrier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!

" i don't know who you are, but i'm pretty sure Stretch doesn't know you." Red said, unfriendly, arms crossed over his chest. He glared at the Papyrus-like skeleton in the doorway, he was surprised, sure, but not that surprised, had already been shocked out of his soul once tonight. There was a human kid beside the strange, Papyrus looking skeleton, standing dumbfounded in the doorframe, the kid carrying some type of. . . Chihuahua-looking thing? 

" S-Sans, who is this?" the human child asked Red, motioning to Stretch, Red narrowed his eyes, he would wonder how this stranger knew his name but it was obvious this guy's name was Papyrus TOO, just like he probably had his own brother, his own Sans.

" There's two trashbags?! I didn't sign up for this freak show!" Temmie spat and Red's sockets widened a little, wow, that dog thing could talk? And it sounded like-like Flowey, that stupid house-plant Frisk brought around with them. " What's going on, Papyrus?!" it demanded, looking to Corn with a snarl.

Corn wandered into the room, unsurely, eyeing Red nervously. Was it Sans dressed differently? Had he done a trick with his eye lights? Skeleton contacts or something? Corn wasn't sure if those were a thing. " i-i don't know," he replied, looking nervous, " um, who are you?" he asked and Red grunted, " not your bro before you ask." 

" so, you just. . .look like him?" Corn asked with stained sockets. Red nodded and the skeleton across from him looked sad, " oh, t-too bad." He looked to Stretch and Red felt a surge of protectiveness for the unconscious, idiot Weedbag. " what do you want?" Red asked harshly, moving forward to step beside Stretch's bed closer.

The skeleton in the hospital bed was out like a light. A mask over his mouth and nosehole slowly putting antidote into his system and continuing to stabilize his fragile magic. 

Corn looked to Stretch, recognizing him after a short moment. He was the skeleton buying from Madjick before him. It was eerie to see someone who looked so much like him injured and vulnerable like this. Corn looked back to the Sans-looking skeleton and felt himself get nervous, his presence was harsh like Sans' and just talkin' to him made Corn nervous. 

" u-um, i'm sorry, i was lookin' for my brother. i figured when i asked for a Gaster at the desk, there wouldn't be any others here." 

Red huffed in annoyance, " Gaster is a really common last name, you idiot. double-check next time." Corn wilted where he stood. " r-right. sorry." Chara rubbed their hands together in front of themselves in nervousness. Temmie had leapt to the floor and Red watched the creature suspiciously as he hopped up on the end of Stretch's bed. 

" What happened to him?" Temmie asked and Red answered, " ODed."

Corn's sockets lit up in remembrance. " On what?" Temmie probed, staring at Red with skeptical eyes. Red was considering whether or not to answer when Corn muttered, " Special K." 

Red looked to him sharply and Corn flinched as all the eyes in the room turned to him. He sweated harshly as Red asked, gaze narrowed and fierce, " how did ya know that?" 

Corn chuckled nervously, taking a step back. " u-um?" He wasn't sure if he should tell the truth or not. " it's real popular around here. that's all." Red glared at him a few more seconds and Corn felt like it was M'lord staring through him, cutting his resolve to itty bitty pieces. 

Just as he was about to spill the truth, Red looked away to Stretch, eyes openly troubled. " i didn't know that. maybe that's how he. . ." He trailed off and Chara asked quietly, " Mister?" Sans looked over as Chara asked, " Is he going to be alright?" 

Red nodded slowly, feeling slightly thankful and reminded of Frisk. He missed the little dork. He missed Edge too actually. And Dad. He didn't know what he was feeling. He had gotten the knock on his door at almost 11 pm. From someone who thought him and Weedbag were brothers. Pyrope maybe his name was? They often got mistaken for that. ‘Stretch's fucked, man’, is what he kept sayin'. ‘Loox found him. We don't know what he took! We don't know what he took!’, is what he kept repeating. Red had shown up to the hospital, surprisingly scared. He didn't want to have to be the one to call Blueberry and the Swaps' dad and tell them all they had was a box of dust to bring home. Stretch was kind of annoying and spoiled, kinda a tool, but Red didn't want him to DIE. He was eighteen for stars' sake! Red had shifted on his feet and paced and rubbed over his skull as he waited what seemed like hours to be able to see his friend-enemy-ex-middle school boyfriend. When he came into the room, he broke down and called Edge. The brat didn't pick up. He knew he left a voicemail he'd be very embarrassed by later. It was gushy and gross and had a lot of 'love you, Boss's in there. 

Red nodded more assuringly and said, " he's stable now." Chara nodded shyly and mumbled, " I'm glad." 

Corn, getting over the shock of this discovery, asked Chara and Temmie, " we should head back to the desk? we need to find my bro." Sans could be in one of these other rooms right now, probably burnt badly and whimpering in pain. Ok, the whimpering was something Corn knew was just part of his overzealous imagination, Sans probably wouldn't whimper if both his legs were broke and he knew he'd never walk again- but still-he could be in pain! Corn wanted to be there for him! 

" what happened to your bro?" Red asked, leaning a hand forward on the side of the hospital bed. Corn stuttered, " w-we think he was in an explosion!" Red blinked dryly and Chara enthused, " Yeah! Do you know where he is?!" with a look of worried seriousness on their face. Temmie met Red's confused eyes and said, " Yeah, I think it's hard to believe too." with a small scowl. 

" uh? no. check with the hospital staff i guess. i, uh, hope he's ok." he said awkwardly. Corn nodded quickly and then pivoted on his heel like lightning, already fleeing back into the hall. Chara went and grabbed Temmie up, which the creature did not protest too and said, " Th-thank you!" as they started off to the door. Chara paused in the door frame and gave a look of concern to Stretch. Then they looked to Red and said, " I-I hope the recovery goes quickly. With you looking after him, I'm sure he'll get better quick!" They smiled warmly, the warm pink circles on their round cheeks standing out. Red blinked in slight surprise as the child waved and then hurried after Corn, Red hearing their fast footfalls scamper away. 

Red paused and watched the door for a moment. He slowly sat back down and rested his skull in his hands. His soul was full of so many different emotions. He felt the urge to shut down and turn them all to rage. 

He heard a slight shifting. He looked up and Stretch's sockets were flickering open and closed. The skeleton's groggy looking sockets found him and Red sat up some. His eye lights then scanned around the room and then back to Red.

" um," His voice sounded faint and dry, somewhat hoarse. " R-Red? wh-where are we?" he asked, eye lights movin' around. Red sighed, " the hospital, Weedbag." 

Stretch looked confused, " why?" he croaked out and reached up to his mouth, fingers tracing over the plastic mask that covered his mouth and nosehole. His eye sockets grew some and he was snapped into thinking more clearly. He began to struggle to sit up some. 

" ey. easy." Red warned and Stretch paused and looked to him with anxiety. " wh-what happened?" he asked, mouth feeling very parched. 

Red said lowly, " you ODed on Ketamine." 

" K-Keta-what?" Stretch stuttered and Red frowned at him, he didn't even know what he was taking? " Stars, Weedbag, that shit you took!" he exclaimed, leaning back in his chair. " what did you call it 'sprinkle goo goo glitter'?!" 

Stretch tried to think, remember, " th-the special k? n-no, i-i didn't take that much. i. . ." He trailed off. " h-how long have i been here?" he asked with urgency. 

" just a few hours." Red reassured, he got up and pressed the small nurse button, he was supposed to do that if Stretch woke up or his state otherwise changed. 

Stretch sighed heavily in relief, leaning back and taking a deep breath. He looked with concern to the tank beside him. He wondered what he was breathing in. He watched as Red rang the button and then slowly sat down. 

" why are y-you here?" Stretch stuttered, his dry mouth makin' it hard to talk clearly. Red chuckled, " they think i'm Blue." Stretch soaked that in, being in a state of shock still, as he brought a hand up and rubbed at the sides of his skull. " i can't let anyone know about this.” Stretch uttered, with horror, “ S-Sans would, oh, he'd cry so much i can't even imagine. he wouldn't let me leave his side ever again." 

Red shrugged with a smirk, " well, i'm willin' to keep it a secret." Stretch looked to him and Red grinned, leaning forward, " if ya do somethin' for me." Stretch frowned sadly, " i just woke up in the hospital and now you're blackmailin' me? some friend you are." he commented with a bitter huff, looking away to a corner. 

Red chuckled, " come on, Stretch! it's beneficial to both of us! i keep your secret and i think you might find my plan has other benefits too." Stretch looked to him with a frown, he was still trying to process the fact he had overdosed. I mean, he could have died, right? Red sure was taking this lightly. Then again, he supposed it was better it wasn’t some big sob party. His Sans being in that chair, weeping his eyes out and begging the angel he be ok, his dad rubbing Blue's shoulder, crying gently too, was enough guilt to make Stretch consider leaving the country and changing his name. They deserved so much better than a brother and son like him. Better Red than them, he knew Red didn't really care that much, though Stretch did admit a part of him was touched he was here. He supposed Red could have just rolled over and went back to bed. 

" ok." he stated, " i'll hear it." Red smirked. Perfect. 

 

The tired woman observed the frazzled looking skeleton with dryness. His gray tank top was stained with something and he smelled heavily of marijuana and stale sweat. 

" what do you mean he's not HERE?" Corn asked in distress, hands on the counter. The woman looked back to her computer system and answered, " I already told you. . .sir, Sans Gaster was checked out of here hours ago. By a Wingdings Gaster." 

" o-oh, how was he? was he ok?" Corn questioned nervously and Temmie muttered, " Probably." from within Chara's arms. " I mean they released him, right?" 

Corn looked to them with fear and the woman sighed and explained, " Please, sir, there is a line behind you. I suggest calling your friend if he's already been released. Next." She motioned up the monster behind him and Corn frowned as he half-stepped, half-was pushed, out of the path. He looked to Chara and Temmie miserably and Temmie asked, " Why do you have that dumb look on your face? It's good news he's not here, right?" 

" Yeah, come on, Pap! Can't we call him?" Chara inquired. Corn nodded but then revealed, " y-yes, but i don't have a cell phone." Temmie looked around and asked sharply, " Well, is there a pay phone we can use?" 

" What's a pay phone?" Chara questioned, causing Temmie to sigh. The small dog-like creature looked up to them with annoyance, " You really can be dumb sometimes, ya know that?" Chara frowned at them, " That's not very nice, Temmie." 

Corn ignored their bickering and wondered why Sans hadn't called him, he must have called Asgore, right? That's how Asgore knew to take him home with him. Corn abruptly felt very stupid, Sans was probably fine, wasn't he? I mean Papyrus had no idea how you could be fine after being caught in the wake of a bomb but if anyone could do it, it was his indestructible older brother. I mean Gaster had taken him. . .home? Papyrus was suddenly sick with worry again. Maybe Sans was so hurt he didn't want Papyrus to see him in that injured a state? That weak? God knew Sans had his pride. Maybe that's why he had instructed Asgore take him home with him. 

Corn debated it mentally and was distracted by Chara, Chara asked with large eyes, " Maybe we can borrow a phone?" The child didn't have one either. A phone? Ha. Asking for one of those? From ASGORE? That would get Chara into nothing but trouble. Probably locked in the closet trouble. 

" from who?" Corn questioned, suddenly looking around and being overwhelmed by all the abrupt candidates. 

" Why not that skeleton guy with his drugie skeleton friend?" Temmie questioned and Corn and Chara looked to him with big eyes. " What?" Temmie asked, looking around, " We already introduced ourselves." 

" s-sorta." Papyrus said, putting his hands uncomfortably in his pockets; looking to the side. " I think he'll let us," Chara chirped, " and if not, we can find someone else." Corn looked to the child's positivity warily and gave a small sigh. But then he nodded and said, " alright." He didn't see any better options. 

They started back down the hall. 

" no way in hell!" Stretch shot and Red looked frustrated and offended as he retorted, " why not?!" back to him. " don't you think that'd get Blue's attention?" 

" what is this fuckin' Housewives of Hotland? i'm not lookin' for that of attention! it's not worth him and everyone else thinkin' i'm a fag!" 

" well it's not like it's currently a secret!" Red retorted, Corn stood awkwardly in the doorway, recoiling back slightly like a kicked dog. The two bickering skeletons hadn't noticed his presence. His look-alike, he had seen with Madjick, was sitting up some in bed now, having awoken, and clearly angered since they left. There was a monster nurse in the room, checking some readings on the monitors. The skeleton in bed, looked like he was fuming.

" you are such a fuckin' asshole! just because you like cock doesn't mean i do!" Stretch barked. Corn looked away uncomfortably, sweating and Temmie exclaimed, " HELLO? Child in the room!" Red and Stretch froze in their argument and looked to the door. Corn met them with an awkward smile and stepped in hesitantly, not really feeling invited so it was weird. Chara looked flustered, from all the running around town and the skeleton's conversation and Temmie's comment, Corn was sure. 

" J-jeez, Temmie, it's ok." Chara said, blushing slightly at Temmie’s protectiveness. 

Stretch's sockets widened and he exclaimed, " Chara?" in shock. The child looked up and greeted, " O-oh, hi, mister!" They vaguely wondered how he knew their name. Stretch looked to Corn with shock and asked, " wh-who are they?" to Red. Red frowned, sitting back more relaxed in his chair, feeling kind of annoyed and kind of disappointed. Shoot, he wondered if he could still make Weedbag consider otherwise. Nothing would stir Boss up more than knowing he could play the same game and fuck somebody else too. 

" h-hi, sorry to bother," Corn said nervously, looking mostly to Red, " but could i borrow your cell phone for a second, i want to call my bro." 

Red cocked a socket and then slowly met eyes with Stretch, leaning forward for a second. " not too sure to be honest.” he answered Stretch, momentarily ignoring Corn, “ they came in here by accident earlier, looking for his-" Red gestured over to Corn, " bro. apparently he was. . .caught in an explosion?" Red said, looking towards Corn with dry curiousness, was that right? 

Corn nodded nervously, " w-we have the same last name." he informed. Stretch looked at Corn with wariness and then faked a small grin, " well, you must be a Papyrus too then? don't be a stranger. we're all Gasters here." Chara smiled and Corn didn't look much less anxious, though he did step a little further into the room. Chara followed him and Chara chirped, " Thank you, mister! We're just really worried about our friend." 

" You are." Temmie said foully, looking to Chara dryly, " I think Sans is as bad as trashbag here." Red cringed at the 'trashbag' comment, that's what Flowey called him! This was kinda strange honestly. Stretch was feeling equally weirded out as he inspected the human child with his eyes before moving on to his clone. 

The human child did look like the spitting image of Chara. But the clothes were different and Chara lived in Home. No way they'd be here without Asgore and calling him 'mister' instead of Papyrus. This was probably just another kid who looked a lot like them. Stretch swore, the similarities he often came across really creeped him out. 

Corn gave Temmie a small scowl and then looked back to Red, slight pleading in his sockets. " about that call?" Red huffed and asked disagreeably, " what are you goin' do for me?" 

Corn frowned and Stretch glared at his temperamental comrade. " Red! gosh darn it give him the phone!" He watched his language because of the kid in the room. " why should i?" Red retorted, " i don't even know him. just cause he looks like my bro doesn't make me entitled to help him." 

" p-please." Corn beseeched. " It will be real quick!" Chara added with big eyes. Temmie 'tch'ed. 

Stretch crossed his arms over his chest and said, " come on, man. he wants to talk to his bro who was in some type of accident. you would want someone to lend you their phone in the same situation." 

Red rolled his skull around his neck vertebrae and frowned. True, he supposed. But he never gave into that golden rule bullshit. Treat others the way ya wanna be treated? Nah, monsters treated others the way they thought they DESERVED to be treated. Those who were naturally nice, were only that way because they were conceited and entitled enough to think the world should bend over backwards for them. So not him. He wouldn't mind having someone turn up their nose at his request to use their cell, I mean he should be able to acquire a phone himself, he should have one. He hadn't done anything for them, why should they? He wouldn't expect anything less. 

" he hasn’t done shit for me." Red said stubbornly and Stretch felt a small fire in his sockets. " Red! i swear to God! just give him the phone!" 

Corn shifted back and forth uncomfortably, wanting to just talk to Sans already. 

Chara pleaded, " Please, mister." stepping forward some. Red 'tch'ed, hating how much they looked like Frisk. He had to avoid their eyes as he looked to Stretch, " maybe you could. . .do somethin' for me to change my mind, Weedbag?" 

Stretch growled in frustration and grit out, " n. o." He looked back to the group of despondent, except Temmie, who looked irritated, newcomers and apologized, " i'm sorry about him. he was born mean and he's determined to die that way. you can use my phone." Stretch looked around for some bag or some place where they would have put his personal possessions, he was in a green hospital gown now. " um, Red?" he asked, with a look of slight distress, as he could find neither.

Red had his arms crossed over himself, he scowled at Stretch. He didn't know where Weedbag's stuff was and he didn't care. Stretch spotted the nurse, who was on his way out, and called, " excuse me, sir?" 

The monster paused and looked back, " Yes, Mr. Gaster?" Stretch felt a little flustered at being called that and stuttered, " do you know where the stuff that i came in with is?" The monster was tall and lion-like. A thick brown mane around round ears. " I'll have to ask the physician who treated you when you came in, sir. We should be able to get it back to you soon." Stretch nodded and said, " ok, thank you." 

" By the way, a doctor from our psychiatric unit will be down to talk to you soon." He looked to the visitors that were not Red. " If you'd like privacy for that, you should probably ask your guests to step out for a while." 

Stretch paled, some sweat forming on his skull, " p-psychiatric? wh-why?" 

Red huffed in annoyance, leaning his elbows on his knees. " cause you ODed, idiot." Stretch looked to him with concern, " s-so? i'm not crazy." 

Red yawned and then said, " yeah, well, they've got to check. i mean you seem like an addict." Some fear rose up in Stretch and he had to work to keep calm. Would they deem him unfit to just go back to campus? He wouldn't have to spend the night here, right? More importantly, his family wouldn't be notified. . .right?! I-I mean surely they had privacy policies o-or something!

Corn looked between the two and then his interest was distracted as he saw Temmie hopped down from Chara's arms. Chara watched Stretch and Red with concern. The child didn't know much about addicts and drugs, only that they were bad, and that the scary kids at school used them. Corn watched as the small dog creature slowly walked up to Red's side, Red was preoccupied with Stretch's response. " well, they'll let me go, right?" Stretch inquired.

Red grunted, " maybe. if we fake that i'm your bro and will be watchin' over you, they'll definitely." Stretch nodded with worry and Corn internally praised a deity as Temmie pulled an older model phone with a cracked screen from Red's black jacket pocket. Temmie bounded over to them and Corn leaned down and scooped them up, quickly taking the phone.

" well, thanks anyway." he cut in, putting the phone in his pocket, and grabbing Chara by the shoulder. " get well soon. see ya." He began to usher Chara out and Stretch blinked at them widely with confusion.

" But don't we need-?" Chara began to ask, and Corn said, " not anymore." through grit teeth. They left out the door and Stretch commented calmly to Red, " i thought they needed a phone?" Red shrugged in return, " who cares? at least they outta our hair." unaware his pockets were empty.

Corn, the child, and Temmie hid behind a wall and Chara looked guilty as Corn raised the phone to the side of his skull as it rang. Come on, come on, he thought with anxiety waiting with the chiming. Temmie watched with sharp interest. It picked up. " Hello?" It wasn't Sans, which made lead drop in Papyrus' stomach instantly. " h-hi? is Sans Gaster there?"

The voice was high and nasal, maybe female? " Who's asking?"

" Papyrus. Papyrus Gaster! i-i'm his brother." 

" Oh, wow. You're the Jr.? The suicidal one?" 

Papyrus frowned but said, " yes. now, please, can i speak to him? where is he?" He heard the small chime of a call wanting to come through on Red's phone but he ignored it. 

The voice on the other side said, " Awe, you wanna hear from him?" Her voice seemed to more distant for the moment, " Did you hear that? That's cute." 

He heard a chuckle from a deeper voice. He stiffened and his soul was racing with fear now, he felt as physically ill as the monsters within this building needing treatment were. " pl-please, i'm really worried." 

" Ok, ok, sweetheart, relax. He's fine. Well, as fine as you can be with third degree burns. He's supposedly refusing the morphine Gaster keeps trying to give him. The kid's crazy, I swear." 

Papyrus wasn't sure if he was terribly relieved or horribly devastated. He turned away from Temmie and Chara so they couldn't see the tears that had formed in his eyes. Third degree burns? " may i speak to him? please." 

" What do you say, Captain?" the female voice asked with an almost humorous tone. Papyrus heard a " Sure, why not?" faintly from the other voice. 

" Kk. One moment, Sansy Jr." Papyrus felt his soul rate fluctuate up and down in nerves. Chara held their hands together, with empathy painted over their face, from behind Corn. 

Papyrus heard movement through the speaker; the sound of feet, distant voices, doors opening and closing. A blur. Chaos. He squeezed his sockets shut. He needed something to make sense of it all. Then he heard the woman say faintly, " For you." He heard the phone shift hands.

" Hello? The Sentry speaking." 

Papyrus collapsed into tears and Chara held him as they turned the phone on for Temmie to explain what had happened. Sans roared in anger at them leaving Asgore, but his rage was not even a fraction as loud as Papyrus' sobs of relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	31. Duped Squared

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a day late! Hope you all had a good weekend! :) Check out my new book if you haven't!  
> Hey guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!

W. D. Gaster watched them with heavy suspicion from his end of the bar. Frogit's Place was in the heart of Home, near Whimsun's crack den and a five minute walk from Royal Casino. It had raw and etched wooden counters with dim lighting that hung overhead like precarious torches. It wasn't a small bar and tonight, it was full. There was a pool table in the back where balls knocked against one another, and the sides of the worn velvet table, with a clatter. In ways of decoration there was only pictures of half-dressed women from old Hollywood movies and a deer head with one of its glass eyes missing. Gaster came here almost every Friday, it was his unwinding time, a break of work and the general anxiety and unpleasantness that was his life. But tonight some newcomers had caught his eye and even the warmness of beer in his stomach would not allow him to let it go. Nothing was particularly unusual about the girls that were with them, lots of piercings, dyed hair, lipstick, slightly slutty clothes, an alligator-like monster and a feline kind, not out of place for this joint. It was the boys that stood out like a sore thumb.

Two skeletons, crystal white, with squeaky clean bones. Scarless. They both dressed far too brightly and cleanly. The tall one was wearing a luxurious red scarf of silk over a white cotton long-sleeved shirt with the words 'COOL DUDE' on it, next to the graphic of a basketball. He wore a bright orange baseball cap on sideways that made him look like he was either blind or retarded, maybe both. Gaster strained to see them better as a large, muscular Aaron plopped down onto a stool between them. The shorter one, Sans, wore a blue polo that looked a little too snug on him over some rumpled khaki slacks. They looked like they were going to an eighth grade social and awkward dinner party respectively. Papyrus was very animated, being very loud and excited. He drew dirty looks and scoffs. He was enthusing with the two women happily and they seemed more than happy to entertain him. Sans was quieter and looked quite shy as the Alligator woman chatted with him and even put her hands on his arms and rubbed them sensually. 

These patrons were unusual for two main reasons. The first being they looked like minnows in a shark pond, being dressed far too well, and expensively, for such an establishment. And two, they were his next door neighbor's sons. Gaster turned back to his rum and coke with a look of disgruntled dissatisfaction on his face. 

" lookin' at the new meat?" His eyes turned to the Vegetoid sitting beside him. The carrot-like monster had small metal arms and legs. It had orange skin that appeared like a rough carrot's pulled freshly from the Earth. The monster had dark eyes like upturned crescents and a stretching, toothless maw. Gaster was overwhelmed with the scent of steamed carrots and peas. 

" Not for me." the regular said with a mysterious smile, " I prefer to eat my greens." Gaster looked back to the boys, down with the young women, as Vegetoid explained, " Looks like their on Brat and Cat's menu anyway." 

Gaster watched them and narrowed his eyes. Then he looked back to the toid, " What do you mean?" he asked gruffly, " On their menu? They whores?" 

The vegetable-like monster cackled softly. " Oh no, they work for the Big Guy." Gaster felt himself tense up, " That so?" he replied, trying to act like the name had no effect on him. He took a sip of his beer and Vegetoid nodded. " Sure is, they love fuckin' with twinks like those two. Both metaphorically and. . .literally." Gaster wrinkled his expression in disgust and looked back down to Sans and Papyrus Classic. 

Sans was chuckling softly, as Bratty, a narrow waisted, flat chested woman, with a long snout and blond pigtail hair, was leaning on the table with an elbow. " So, you said your brother goes to Waterfall, huh?" 

" y-yup." Sans answered, feeling a little hot under the collar. These two were. . .forward. Bratty here kept brushing against his femur with her leg and touching his arm. He felt uncomfortable but a little excited, stuck in a way where he felt he couldn't tell her to knock it off. He kept looking over nervously to see if Catty was giving Papyrus the same treatment but if she was, it wasn't noticeable.

" That sure is right!" Papyrus celebrated, looking at Bratty. " I'm going to major in Criminology! Hopefully to give me a leg up as a police officer! I'm going to be the most heroic officer in all of Monster Territory!" Sans smiled at his brother shyly, " you sure are, Pap." he said warmly, feeling happy his brother was so excited but distracted by all this environment. This place was loud and honestly, Sans felt there was something a little off about the place. Something he couldn't quite place, but his instincts could, and it made him feel uneasy. 

" Police officers are like SO cool." Catty said with a sharp-tooth smile and Papyrus said, " Why thank you!" beginning to chatter on to her. Sans was pulled away from listening by Bratty, who was nursing a Bloody Mary. " So, like, what do you do, Sans? All I can seem to squeeze out of you is talk about your brother." She fluttered her pink eyes adorned with thick false lashes of ebony, brushing one of her well-manicured hands against his humerus. " What do you, the Mighty Sans, get up to?" Sans chuckled and shrugged, flushing a small bit, " nothin' really, heh." He scratched behind his skull and confessed sheepishly, " i'm takin' a year off just to figure it all out." 

Bratty smiled confidently, leaning forward at the counter as he spoke. " Really? Wow. Like you totally seem like the kind of guy who knows exactly what he wants." She brushed a hand against his knee and Sans felt his breath get caught in his ribcage.

" haha, no way,” Sans sputtered nervously, “ i-i just, there are so many options i guess." He shrugged, hoping the sweat he felt on his skull wasn't visible in the dim light. She gave a low hum, " Uh-huh. That's for sure. But," She leaned forward a little closer, " I think you're lying to me." He blinked widely and she said, " I think you know what you want." She brushed over his femur more obviously this time, he shuddered in a way he couldn't help. Her pink eyes, dark, beautiful pupil glanced him up and down, " I think you're just scared to take it." His throat went dry as she leaned into the side of his skull and whispered, " I think, like, you'd be really good at taking it. How about we-" She bit her lip, " take this back to my place?"

Sans felt himself sweating and his pelvis warming, oh god, oh god, oh god, how did a hot girl just offer him that? He pulled back nervously, bumping an elbow into Papyrus. Papyrus looked back and asked, " Brother?" Sans chuckled anxiously, looking to him to avoid looking at Bratty, " u-uh, i gotta go to the bathroom." Papyrus smiled cheerfully, " Ok! Sounds good! Hurry back!" Sans nodded, still not looking at Bratty as he hopped down from his stool and head down, hands shoved in his ill-fitting slacks' pockets, he started to the bathroom in the back of the joint. Bratty paused, and her and Catty locked sharp eyes for a moment. Plan B it was then. 

As Sans wandered through the bar, he got unfriendly stares from all around. He saw the back of one monster had the bar that was familiar to him. He blinked in surprise as the monster turned and he recognized him. Mr. Fell? That old asshole? The pale, flesh monster with red dotted, black backed eyes looked to him suspiciously. He wore a bundled red scarf over a red sweater and bulky leather jacket of tan. Sans broke eye contact, nervously, and tried to act like he wasn't doing anything wrong. I-I mean his dad had never told him 'not' to go down to a bar in Home at night, with girls he had never met before, but he was pretty sure it was a given, considering Gaster was probably an above average level of protective. 

The Classic’s father was the kind of men who refused to drive the car till they were all strapped in and as kids had NEVER let him not wear his helmet on his bike, even when Sans had complained to him Red had said it wasn't cool. He had even been the type to show up to their teachers' classrooms and argue with them over a grade on occasion. Which Sans always found a healthy amount of embarrassing as he stood there floundering as Gaster barked, " My son is the brightest student in this place! This essay is better executed than any measly work you've ever done! Who cares he didn't put it in 'proper formatting'?! He's a child genius! A prodigy! We can handle this here or I can take it to the principle." This resulted in a few B's coming up to A's, and his name's spot on more than a few of his teacher's shit lists. Despite this, Sans couldn't deny a part of him appreciated the fact his father thought so highly of him and he'd show it. When the praise got to the end of Sans' rope, he'd just think of Edge and Red and forget his worries. 

Their dad, Mr. Fell, never attended anything. Not graduation ceremonies, not school productions or events, Classic remembered they were singing in the fifth grade graduation as kids. He had been so excited, Pap was over the moon, Classic remembered specifically Edge throwing a tantrum and arguing with the teacher. He kept saying all of this was 'STUPID' and he wasn't going to be a 'DAMN HIPPY MUSIC PLAYER' when he grew up so he didn't need this. He got sent to the principals', as he often was, and Classic remembered frowning and asking Red, who stood beside him in their chorus line, " doesn't he want it to be good? our dads will be here." Red had shrugged, chewing some prohibited red chewing gum in his mouth. " yours, Shorty. our dad isn't comin'." Little Classic had frowned, utterly confused. They were going into middle school- this was one of the biggest days of their life so far! Other than their birthdays and maybe Christmas. " why not?" he asked with sullen shock. Red had grinned, but Classic had to imagine it was fake, he would be so sad if his own dad didn't come, " said he wasn't goin' to take a day off just to 'watch snot-eaters prance around and shriek off-key'." Young Red had chuckled. " wish i had a job so i could skip. my bro is right. this thing sucks." 

" Sans! Sans Red!" the teacher had scolded, " Stop your chatter up there!" Kid Classic had cowered, " yes, ma'am." Red had shrugged and the rehearsal continued just as it had before Edge had screamed and left. 

Sans looked away quickly from Fell Gaster and entered into the bathroom. 

" So like Papyrus?" Catty purred, " You said you can cook?" The young skeleton beamed, " Indeed I can! Only the most exquisite of pasta prepared by the master chef, Papyrus!" Bratty chuckled politely as she dropped the tablet into Sans' soda, making sure Papyrus' head was turned the other way. Catty hugged onto his arm and asked, " Hey, I know this like totally wicked game and I think we should play it." 

Papyrus grinned widely, these girls were so nice! He was glad they were becoming such fast friends! They wanted to know so much about him! He was so glad Sans had agreed! This night was going flawlessly! " Oh cool! What type of game is it?" 

" A drinking game!" Bratty announced happily, discreetly tucking the baggage away in her purse. " Doesn't that sound like wicked fun, Pap?" Papyrus nodded, " Wowie! Yes! It does! How do you play?" 

Sans returned from the bathroom and before he was even finished sitting up on his stool, Papyrus was exclaiming, " Are you ready, brother?!" Sans had a look of slight concern on his face as he asked, " am i ready for what?" 

" A game!" Catty chirped, tossing some blue-dyed tips out of her yellow, feline eyes. " It's a little like truth or dare! Only you can lie if you want." Papyrus giggled, looking like a middle school girl telling secrets at a slumber party. " Yes, Sans! They is a twist! We can pull japes on one another! Try to outwit the other!" Sans smiled and said, " uh, ok, sure." though he vaguely thought they were too old for such juvenile games. 

Bratty clapped her scaled hands together, scarlet fake nails tapping together. " Ok! So here's how it works! We take turns like totally asking each other questions." 

" Yeah, yeah!" Catty agreed excitedly. Papyrus smiled, already thinking of ways to win the game! The Great Papyrus could not come in second to anyone! Sans nodded, " ok." he said simply. Bratty continued, " You can chose to answer with a truth or with a lie. If the other players believe you're telling the truth, they do like nothing, but if they think you're totally lying, they take a big gulp of their drink!" Catty lifted her beer excitedly, " These ones!" Papyrus giggled and lifted his cup of sparkling orange soda too, " Yes, brother! These ones!" Sans watched them and then his eyes returned to Bratty, who continued with the rules.

" If they caught you in a lie, you have to tell the true answer and then take a drink! But if they called you a like totally pants-flaming liar and you told the truth, they have to take another drink! The monster with the most remaining drink in their cup at the end of the game, wins!" Sans soaked this in and then quickly nodded. " ok. sounds fun. Pap?" he turned to his bro, " you get how to play?" Papyrus nodded eagerly, " I sure do, brother! The Great Papyrus intends to claim swift victory over you and his new friends!" Catty giggled and Bratty smiled, " Alright, I'll like totally go first! Sans! Do you have a girlfriend?" 

Papyrus gave a gentle laugh and exclaimed with a smile, " My brother doesn't have a girlfriend!" Sans froze and then chuckled slowly, affection running into his eye lights. He looked over to Pap and said, " Pap." lovingly. Papyrus blinked widely, unsure as to why he was being addressed but then exclaimed, " Oh! Nyeh! Right! Heh heh! I'm sorry!" 

Bratty held a fake smile and said, " It's, uh, ok." Catty chuckled and purred, " Don't worry, happens to me all the time! I'll ask one! Sans, do you like totally want to make out with someone here?" Sans blushed slightly and Papyrus blinked, cocking his head slightly as he thought. Make out? Make out with what? Money? No, no, that couldn't be it. Make up? With who? Was he fighting? Oh, wait! Catty was a girl! Was she asking if Sans liked to wear makeup? What a clever, feminine question! She must be really good at this game! Papyrus thought. Sans felt his throat dry some as his eyes flickered just for a moment to Papyrus' large, broad chest, with a buxomly round ribcage shown off in his tight 'cool dude' shirt. His pondering expression, showing off those big ebony sockets to the world, his eyes flicked back to Catty, who waited with a swishing purple tail. 

" nope." he said and he heard a glass raise behind him, he turned slightly to see Bratty slam her glass back down. " You're like totally lying!" Sans sweat, he could just lie again? I mean it's not like they could get inside his head. " um," But-eh, it was in the spirit of the game. He took a swig of his own root beer, which didn't taste any different than any other can he'd ever drank, and said, " got me there." with an easy-going smile. Catty giggled and Bratty smiled with satisfaction. Papyrus' sockets were huge. Oh my goodness! Sans used make-up?! Why had his older brother never told him that before?! Was he embarrassed? Shy??? 

" Oh, brother! I totally support you!" Papyrus assured, with an expression of pure genuineness and care, placing a red-gloved hand on his shoulder, " I am here for you one hundred percent! If you want to make out, go ahead!" 

Sans blushed brightly and thought with agony, oh my God, he's too good! He doesn't know I want to make out with HIM! Ugh! I'm so fuckin' gross. He wouldn't consider that in a million years-a million years!

" haha." Sans said weakly and Catty giggled, " Oooo, I wonder who it’s with! Me too, Sansy! I support you! You go get that girl!" Catty winked in playfulness and Sans chuckled bashfully. " o-ok, uh, i'll ask you a question next, Catty." Catty nodded, " Like totally go ahead!" 

Sans thought of something generic, like 'how many guys have you kissed' but decided that was too juvenile. " uh," 'How many have you fucked?', ew, no, too vulgar. " how many guys have you seriously dated?" Sans decided on. Catty put a blue painted claw to her lip and mused, " Uh, give me like a sec. Hmmm, three!" 

Sans took a sip of his drink and Bratty considered doing the same, but didn't. I mean she knew that was a lie, Catty was her BEST FRIEND, of course she knew how many guys she had dated! But she didn't want to actually get drunk, it was all about pacing yourself, and she certainly didn't care about the actual game or anything. I mean they were only doing it so their little sentry would drink up all his delicious and nutritious vitamin K. They had picked some up from Madjick before they left New Home, he assured it'd do the job like 'Hocus-pocus', I mean 'this'! 

Bratty was honestly kind of surprised, I mean, the rumors following around Sans the Skeleton, the Sentry of The Dreaded Queen, were larger than life. He beat whores till they bled and crashed cars for fun. Did lines off strippers and shot anyone who looked at him wrong. It was hard to imagine that this shy, mild-mannered skeleton was a raging, caging, mob affiant. It was almost like they had the wrong monster all together. But of course, that was impossible. This guy matched the out of focus picture they had spot-on, no WAY they were mistaking. I mean what would be the chances of another skeleton with the same name and almost identical appearance? Nearly nothing. One out a billion, Bratty would guess, probably more. 

They were about half-way through the game and Sans had drank a large portion of his drink. He was beginning to feel really weird. As questions and gulps and laughter continued to occur in their group, he was feeling rather numb, in his arms and legs and even his skull a bit. Like someone had given him a dose of the stuff they give you at the dentist to fill a cavity but in more than just his mouth, in his whole body. He was feeling kind of disoriented, the room was a little more red and orange than he remembered it being earlier. Bratty had been keeping careful watch on him throughout the game, looked like it was finally kicking in. 

" SANS!" Papyrus exclaimed and Sans slowly startled, eye lights looking glossy and kind of out of it, " I have a question for you this time!" Pap was very excited, he felt like he was going to win! He always told the truth so no one had made him drink any and he was very careful in his guesses in which were lies, though he usually got it wrong anyway. But that didn't matter, Catty and Bratty were near done their glasses, his brother too, he was going to win by default! He had gotten into the habit of picking Sans for his questions because Bratty and Catty always seemed to guess he was lying! 

Sans thought Pap sounded so loud, more than normal, he stared at him intensely; it was like he had heard his brother for the first time. So high and strong that voice. Confident. Sexy. He stared at him hazily as Pap asked, pointing a finger up in importance, " What is the coolest thing you've ever done?!" 

Papyruses' questions were always so innocent they were endearing. Papyrus' skull looked a little violet in this light. Sans chuckled, " um, um, huh, i, uh-" He scratched behind his skull lazily and felt like he couldn't feel his hand or his vertebrae, like he could he ripping them out one by one and he wouldn't be able to feel the pain nor the wet blood seeping all over his hand. " i, um, bein' your bro." Sans decided with a big smile, " bein' your bro cause you are so so cool." Papyrus blushed at the flattery with a giant grin, " Oh brother, thank you! You're so sweet!" Papyrus leaned in and gave Sans a big hug, neither Catty nor Bratty took a drink, they were pretty sure the out of it skeleton wasn't lying about that one. And if he was, they didn't want to ruin Papyrus' enjoyable mood. 

" Hey, like, guys," Catty started with a small smile, " we should like go back to me and Bratty's place." Papyrus released Sans and looked to her with a smile, " Your house?" She nodded, " Yeah, we'd like totally have even more fun there."

" Can we play another game there?!" Papyrus asked with interest as Catty nodded, " Yeah, sure." she said with a slightly dry expression. This skeleton was sort of unbelievable in his naivety. Bratty hopped down from her stool and put her hands on Sans' shoulders from behind coaxingly, " Ready to go, Sansy?" 

Sans looked up to her face and her once pink eyes looked blue! He blinked and they were sort of fading to yellow now? He felt like he couldn't move that well, " um," he began, she began to help him down from his seat, " There we go." she coaxed.

Fell Gaster looked over as Bratty and Catty began to lead Papyrus and Sans over to the door. The alligator woman having her hands all over the latter skeleton. He looked to Vegetoid beside him and asked, " Do they rob 'um?" 

Vegetoid shrugged, metal fingers tapping around a drink of tomato juice and vodka. " I can't say." The monster gave the elder father a coy look, " Plants can't talk, dummy." 

Gaster glared at him with irritation and then slapped some g down on the counter, the Vegetoid gave a mysterious smile, sliding the coins into his pocket and away. " Brat and Cat lure them back to their apartment usually, strip them down of all their clothes, then sometimes they take their wallet and other things, throwing the bloke down into the street naked. But sometimes they take pictures of them doing various, heh heh, let's just say unfortunate acts and blackmail them, especially if they're married or have a job as a teacher or something."

Gaster looked back over to the door as it swung shut behind the four of them, in the busy joint monsters already coming and taking their newly opened places at the bar. Gaster stared at the door with sharpness. It wasn't his business. They were adults now. Adults stupid enough to get drunk with some women they didn't know. Though of course, most monsters were foolish when they were young, himself included. 

He looked back down to his mostly empty glass, nothing left in it but melting ice. He could call their father, but by the time Classic Gaster got here whatever was going to happen would have already happened. His mind went and imagined Red being naked and scared as they shoved him out into the cold, missing his wallet and his phone. Gaster's brow furrowed and a small smile traced his lips. O-ok, bad example that was funny as shit. Could you imagine him walking in the front door, embarrassed as hell, and how hard him and Edge would laugh? Ha, it really was an idiotic predicament to get yourself into. He tried to imagine Edge, fucking humiliated later, when the envelope of dirty pictures with his private parts all over them arrived, him shamefully delivering the money to the two blackmailers. Gaster gave a chuckle into his teeth that sounded like a tiny 'pffft'. That was even funnier. His son wouldn't pay them shit, with how shameless he was about the girls he fucked, he'd probably just let them leak the pics and rage about how they were whores at the kitchen table. These mental exercises had done nothing to encourage Gaster to actually go help those two helpless goody-two-shoes. He shrugged, raising his hand for the tab, honestly it WAS their problem, he didn't have any obligation to get involved so he wouldn't. I mean, it's not like those women were going to kill them or something. 

Papyrus made a 'BRRR' sound aloud as they began to wander down the broken down streets of Home. The purple sidewalk was crumbling in places and cracked all over, green ivy growing over the sides of shady, run-down looking buildings. It was the dark of night, and though Home was a city, it was not that bright with artificial light. There was occasional street lamps but half didn't work and the other half were broken by rocks or bullets. Shops closed at around six unless they wanted to attract a dangerous clientele and so, many of the shopfronts were dark. Sans would usually be kind of creeped out by their surroundings but honestly, things were fine. The sky was so colorful, blue and green and just a dash of yellow. He could hear the wind so crisply. He felt like he was closer to God, to the angel, to whatever was out there. Everything just seemed to make sense tonight, ya know? 

" It sure is cold!" Papyrus chirped as he walked along, " How far away is your apartment?" he asked with a friendly smile. Catty smiled at him before casting her eyes to Bratty knowingly, " Oh, it's getting like really close now." 

" Oh goodie!" Papyrus continued, " Do you have any puzzles there? The Great Papyrus is a puzzle master!" 

Sans giggled softly and Bratty kept an arm on his shoulder, making sure the high skeleton didn't go anywhere he wasn't supposed to go. Papyrus looked back with a slight orange over his skull as Sans praised, " you sure are, he's the best at puzzles." Sans giggled some more, " he's the best at everythin'." 

Papyrus blushed further and said, " Th-thank you!" He knew Sans really thought that but he appreciated him being so verbally affectionate in front of their new friends! Maybe that would help Catty and Bratty like him more. " You're so kind, brother!" 

Sans smiled dopily and said, " no, you're so kind, Pap. i love you so much." Papyrus put a hand over where his heart would be and 'aww'ed. " Oh Sans, I love you so much too. You're my favorite brother ever." 

As they continued, they came across an open food truck, some shady Mexican looking place. It's strong lighting lighting a counter full of a crackhead or two, that and a woman in a black hoodie with blue, webbed hands, holding a burrito in her hands at the corner, who eyed them discreetly. 

Sans turned and saw the truck and exclaimed, " hungry!" bounding towards it, Bratty snatched onto him harshly and he halted abruptly, looking up to her confused. Bratty sweated as Papyrus blinked to her widely. Her and Catty exchanged a nervous look and then Catty, sweeping some bangs from her face with a clawed hand carefully, said, " I mean, of course we can stop. You guys like wicked hungry?" 

" y-yeah!" Sans stuttered, looking to the bright green and pink truck with longing. Papyrus looked the pale white, aging yellow posters on the side, broken-down looking, vehicle and questioned, " Is that a good idea, Sans?" He straightened his scarf with a look of distaste, " I mean, I don't know, it looks pretty greasy to me." 

" that's what m-makes it so good!" Sans explained happily, and Papyrus put his hands on his hips, cocking an eye socket skeptically. Just then, the MTT jiggle began to play.

" Mettaton TV-Mettaton TV-What do you watch when you feel down, darling?" 

Catty and Bratty immediately looked around in wonder. " Oh my god, Mettaton!" Their eyes trained on Papyrus, where the sound was coming from, within his jeans' pocket. " You watch MTT?!" they proclaimed, nearly jumping onto him. He chuckled happily, feeling a little overwhelmed, " Y-yes! His programs are always riveting!" 

" Isn't he hot?!" 

" Like so hot?!" The two women gushed. " Y-yes! I mean, um-" Papyrus put a calm finger to his lower jaw, " I mean at least I imagine he'd be warm, he is a robot after all!" 

" Oh my god, he's like totally my robot-husband!" 

" We're like actually already married, he just, doesn't know it yet." 

As the two women gushed, Sans stumbled over to the food truck and ordered, " an enchilada please!" He struggled to get up on the stool, being more uncoordinated than usual. The Loox behind the counter squinted at him. " That supposed to be you picking on me? We ain't got any enchiladas on the menu." The Loox pointed to above his head with a green, clawed hand. " oh!" Sans exclaimed dramatically and began to chew at his numb fingers as he stared up at the words he was having difficulty reading right now. 

Sans felt a vague poke at his shoulder, he looked and he saw. . .Undyne? But her skin was red under her black hoodie. She lowered her hood with a smile, letting free crazed red hair and a sharp, yellowed grin made of sharp and uneven teeth. Her yellow eye was alert and playful in the dark. You could see her muscular back through the thin hoodie and her thick, sculpted legs through tight, ripped jeans. 

" If it isn't Bonnie." she stated with a grin and Classic Sans blinked at her widely. Why was the police chief eating at some seedy food truck like this? And why was the normally blue monster a fiery scarlet? He looked to the half-eaten burrito in front of her and wondered, something in the food?

" Edge didn't tell me you were back in town." Undyne started, " He tell you what happened with Muffet?" She gave a soft laugh, looking back down to her food, eyes glinting with interest. " He needs you around-his other, smarter half. He could have gotten himself killed and-" She crossed her impressive arms over the counter, " what a shame that would be. He has endless potential and a whole lot of luck, something every monster in our business needs." She looked over to Classic, who was staring at her blankly. " But he lacks that common-sense, he's too brash for his own good. So I prefer you around as a buffer to even him out." 

" thanks!" Classic blurted, Undyne gave an amused smile. Thanks? She didn't think she had heard Red ever thank Edge, never mind her. 

" Don't mention it." She decided to make an appeal to his ego. " I mean we both know you're the brains behind the operation, Edge is just your face; your figurehead. You and him could take on way more than you're currently doing. Become rich beyond your wildest dreams." Sans blinked at her and wondered why she was talking about Edge. Did the police captain know Edge? He looked to her hands as she gestured them, they were becoming slightly pink. 

" I've been thinking of letting him in, but he's not half as good without you." She looked to him and asked casually, " Interested?" Classic thought of Papyrus. In? Into the police academy? That was his baby bro's dream! 

" of course!" he exclaimed, smile bright and confetti-like, he swayed slightly as he leaned back and called, " Pappy! Pappy! come here, Pappy!" Papyrus looked over and Catty and Bratty followed his gaze. Catty gasped. Bratty's eyes widened immeasurably. Papyrus called, " Oh my goodness! Hello, Miss Edge's fiancé!" 

Fell Undyne blinked at them in shock. P-Papyrus? N-no. A quick glance over showed a lack of scars, pointy teeth, and fashion sense. He was a bit shorter than Edge as well, more slender in his bones. The waiter at Muffet's! Edge's cousin? N-no, Edge said they were just neighbors, right? And he were with, what were their names again, Meow and Bubbles? Ok, she was certain that wasn't right. 

What were they doing HERE?! They worked in New Home, Undyne was pretty confident about that. W-wait, that meant? Undyne looked with horror in her one good eye at the Sans skeleton sitting beside her. D-damn it, she had thought something was a bit off! He was missing the pointy teeth and golden fake in his mouth! How could she have missed something so obvious?! And his clothes!!! He was wearing an expensive looking polo and slacks. Red wouldn't be caught dead in such clothes! This wasn't Bonnie! This was a total stranger! She quickly tried to backtrack through what she had just spilled to him, cursing herself violently in her head. 

" Wh-what I meant of course was to get 'in' to our club down at the library, u-uh-" She scratched at her cheek, sweat of her face, how stupid was this guy? Would that suffice or-? 

" Pappy!" Sans called out happily and Papyrus wandered over with a grin, " Yes, Brother?" he asked warmly. 

" Undyne wants to let you into the p-police academy!" he blurted and Papyrus gasped in shock and said, " R-really?" feeling more than honored and amazed. " D-did she call you? H-how do you know?" Papyrus watched him with large eye lights and Sans pointed with a lazy finger to Fell Undyne beside him. Papyrus blinked in surprise and then chuckled, " Oh no, brother! That is Edge's fiancé! She just looks like Captain Undyne, silly! Don't worry," Papyrus commented happily with a wink, " even I, the Great Papyrus, have made that mistake before!" 

" It is good to see you again." Papyrus said with friendliness to the fish women. Undyne nodded stiffly and got up, walking over towards Bratty and Catty; both girls much, much lower in the food chain, got nervous, growing a healthy amount of sweat on their green scales and purple fur respectively. 

" U-Undyne!" 

" L-like Captain!" 

Undyne stopped across from them and asked, " What are you doing with these two?" raising an accusatory eyebrow. 

" L-like not totally trying to kill S-Sans?" Catty blurted and Bratty elbowed her in the side and hissed, " C-Catty!" in distress. Undyne blinked widely in confusion. These two perps were trying to kill someone? Trying to kill that random guy?

" Why?" she asked and Bratty and Catty looked to her with wide eyes. " B-because, Captain, u-uh, the King has a big reward on his head a-and-" Catty looked to Bratty nervously, " no one really told us to do it but w-we have this totally wicked plan, that's like totally wicked working!"

" Y-yeah!" Bratty added, " H-he's like basically helpless right now!"

" We gave him vitamin k!" Catty blurted and Undyne nodded slowly, looking over her shoulder where Sans was clumsily trying to order an unusually large order of food, slurring and stuttering some of his words. Well that was a relief, at least he probably didn't understand or wouldn't remember any of the things she had said to him. She made a note to self to be careful, as with all these weird look-alike skeletons running around, they could be hard to keep track of, didn't want to say something by mistake that you had to clean up. 

" Well, do you think he's somebody else?" the King's Captain questioned, crossing her arms over her chest. " This guy is just a normal." Why would they want to kill him? She pointed back to Classic Sans with a straight expression on her face; Papyrus was currently trying to talk him out of getting 'SO MANY' burritos! 

Catty and Bratty blinked in surprise and Bratty stuttered, " N-no, he like looks like that-"

" B-but he's the Sentry of the Queen!" Catty blurted.

Undyne blinked widely in surprise and then chuckled loudly, bringing her large hands to her toned stomach, she was grinning as pulled back, Catty and Bratty staring to her with utter confusion. " No, he's not." she said with certainty, shaking her head back and forth, smiling with amusement. 

" B-but the Sentry is a skeleton that looks like him!" Catty scrambled to pull out her phone to show Undyne. " Well, he doesn't look like much anymore." Undyne said confidently, bringing out her chest as she boasted, " Operation Vengeful Whore was a success. We even got their measly, little 'Captain'," Undyne rolled her eyes with disrespect, " as a bonus." 

" Wh-what?!"

" Like totally no way!" 

Undyne nodded and said, " Our intel says he's dust. Hopefully we can snag their Captain too from the deal." Bratty looked with wide pink eyes over to Sans at the food truck counter, " Then who is HE?" Undyne shrugged, " Just some unlucky sap." she answered, then gave a low laugh, " Almost ended up dust for no reason, poor guy." 

Catty's feline ears twitched in frustration on the top of her head. " Well this is the opposite of wicked cool! We came all the way from New Home for some random dude!" 

Bratty made a despairing face and explained, " This like totally sucks." 

Undyne laughed boisterously. " Yup, sucks for you two." 

The girls began to mope, Undyne still chuckling occasionally, thinking about where the hell the Sans she actually wanted to see was, and Papyrus wore rapidly changing masks of mortification as Sans shoved one after the other thick, wet burritos down his throat, nearly choking every other bite but mewling on about how good it was. Papyrus stared at the grease with horror. He was not so convinced that was the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	32. Lions, Tigers, and Beavers! Oh My!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all my readers! I can't believe we are already at chapter 32! When I was deciding to post this fic, I knew it would be daunting becuz of it's length. I appreciate all my readers and hope I can bring u some joy with this fic. Hope u guys keep on liking it! Also, guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!

Edge listened to the message again with heavy concern.

" B-Boss, i-it's me, i-i- Weedbag fuckin' OD'd and-and they think i'm his-" A heavy breath like a gasp, " i-i'm sorry, ok? i sh-shouldn't have screamed at y-you for the weird collar thing, i just-i-i-" A cough. A lot of background noise, like Sans was in a big hallway, " you made a fool outta me, haha, so funny, i said i'm sorry, so pick up your god damn phone once and a while, would ya? y-you're, OH Boss, i'm so sorry; i love ya, Boss. i love ya. i-i- Weedbag is freakin' me out, i wish you were here. if he dusts, i don't wanna be alone. B-Boss, love ya, i-i'm sorry for always bein' shitty. call me back, pl-please." A groan. " just pick up next time, k?" The message ended with a click and Edge's skull was scarlet, hunched over on his desk, sheltering the phone with his body, keeping it close to his chest like it was a precious gem worthy of protection. He played the message again. Just listening to Sans' deep voice, though distressed in the recording, calmed him. It made him feel so-so powerful. So assured. Yes. His measly pathetic brother DID love him. And now Edge had recorded proof of that that he could listen to at any time. Edge couldn't remember the last time Red had told him that he loved him. Maybe months, maybe years ago. Maybe-his mind scratched for it, maybe never? N-no, it had to have happened at least once. Edge had to believe that. 

Edge played the message one more time, closing his sockets and somehow blushing more every time it was replayed. Oh, it was so fucking idiotic, but he had it bad. He wanted his brother like nothing else. He wanted to own him. To have by his side, at his beck and call, for him to be ready to spread his legs and service his master at anytime, and Edge wanted him to want it too. To gush and praise him, to say, " i love you, Boss." just as he did in this message Edge would never delete from his phone. But not from miles away, at the prompting of some idiot neighbor's overdose, from beside Edge as they sat on the couch, hands interlaced and Red leaning up to kiss his rightful Boss. From in the passenger seat in Edge's truck, smiling as he fought over the songs on the radio with him. Softly and intimacy as they made love. 

Edge couldn't be less concerned with Stretch's OD, or even Sans' distress, didn't consider if his deception with Blue had any place in it at all, just felt like melting, melting in happiness. His pelvis felt like his melting warm bones were hitting it right now and he slowly began to unzip his pants, he could jack right now. For some reason, Sans hadn't picked up when he had tried back. He assumed he was just caught up in hospital stuff. He'd try again in a little bit. 

Abruptly, there was a loud stomping up the stairs. Edge flinched and quickly fixed his fly on his leather pants, standing up as the stomping came down the hall and closer to the bedroom. The door swung open and he saw his father, dressed in his brown leather jacket and low-riding jeans. Quaint boat shoes replaced by black boots of shining leather. 

" Why the hell isn't the laundry done?!" Gaster shot, and Edge recognized by his voice that he was drunk. Papyrus stood up tall; crossing his arms over his chest and wearing a scowl, knowing his intoxicated father would tolerate nothing else.

" I don't do your laundry, old man. I do my own. If you want yours done, you can just do it." Gaster's eyes flared as he marched in, in Edge's eyes him growing larger than he really was. " You ungrateful brat!" Gaster came up to him and shoved his hands out, Edge jumped back from the hands and shot, " Dad! You're drunk! Get out of my room!" 

Gaster grabbed the lamp from Edge's desk and Edge flinched as he threw it onto the floor. A crash burst into the air as it hit the floorboards. Anger overcame the skeleton at the sight of the shattered pieces and he stepped forward and struck his father across the head, Gaster stumbling back at the blow. 

" I told you to go to your room!" Edge snapped and Gaster stared at him with harsh eyes, bringing a hand up to rub the side of his face. Gaster looked down and blinked with concern at the shards of the red lamp. He squatted down wordlessly and started to collect the pieces in his white flesh hands. 

Edge said, " NO!" loudly, as if speaking to a dog. Gaster looked up with a furrowed brow. Edge pointed out of the room, " I'll clean it up. You're too weird about cleaning anyway." Gaster glared at him and then continued to clean the pieces defiantly. Edge groaned in frustration. He grabbed his phone from the desk and tucked it into his pocket. He could pull Gaster out of here by force if he really wanted to but, his father would fight back and then they'd come to more serious blows. Edge wasn't really comfortable with that. It reminded him of when he was small. 

" p-please, dad!" Sans was in front of him, keeping his hands out, " leave him alone!" Papyrus was pressed into the corner of the living room, sockets wide and tears swimming from his eyes. Daddy was mad. He was hitting Sans. He was going to hit him. The sounds made him want to hide in a corner and shake back and forth until it all went away. " Father! Please!" Baby Edge added, echoing his older brother's begging. He looked to his father, haphazard from rage, beer, and chasing them all over the house. His face-lines looked more like cracks as his eyes blazed into them as if with the intent to burn them to crisps. 

" I-I know you can make a better choice!" Edge had rambled, " I know you can be better than you are right now! Pl-please! J-just-" Papyrus' sockets had watched in horror as Gaster shoved his older brother to the ground and crushed his spine under a grinding boot, pressing down and making Sans scream out. Papyrus began to cry harder as Gaster came over and grabbed his skull and began to slam it into the wall. 

He was incapable of better choices. He was incapable of getting better. He didn't want to get better. No monster really did. In this world, it was kill or be killed, metaphorically so: and if you weren't the one with the power, physical or otherwise, you'd end up under someone's grinding heel and squashing thumb. 

Edge snatched his leather jacket as he left his room, leaving his father to pick up the pieces of what was broken and could not ever be repaired. He started down the creaky steps and then went out through the hallway to the front door. The winds of Snowdin were cold tonight on Snowpoff St. House 561. The stars shone brightly in the cold night, Edge pulled on his jacket easily. He went by his truck, the tires had all been replaced but the windshield and windows still needed fixing. His wallet had forced him to accept the dented doors would just have to remain as they were for now. 

Unable to drive anywhere but not wanting to stay home, he started down the well-paved, neat sidewalk of the Snowdin's suburbs. The grass shimmered with a small bit of frost in the darkness. Edge put his hands in his jacket pockets and shrunk his skull down into his scarlet scarf, torn and patched more times then one could count. It was soft and warm, but ragged. Sans had given it to him when he was very small, when he was too young to remember. It had been a blanket of sorts then, but over the years of dragging it around and having his own brother, who gave it to him, mock him over it, he changed it into a scarf. When he was around eleven, when he started punching Sans for lip over it. That seemed to do the trick in removing it from Sans’ list of things to give him crap over. 

The houses were quiet that he passed and Edge noted with curiosity that his idiot neighbor's stupidly good-looking sports car wasn't in its usual spot. What was he doing out at this hour? There was the light of what looked to be the main living room left on, the soft yellow rays warming the white windowsill and lawn. 

Looking onward, Edge saw headlights in the distance. He slowed his walk slightly as they came in his direction and then stopped completely as he came to the driveway where the small blue car went to pull into. It was a compact, sleek, ride of electric shiny blue. 

The car stopped and Edge glanced and could see Blue in the driver's seat, Blue gave him a small wave and gestured that he could go past. Edge shrugged and did so, feeling a little annoyed. He wasn't sure why but when monsters tried to do nice things for him, not that that happened often, it irritated him. Like when that idiot neighbor of his invited him in to have spaghetti or play cards. Edge knew it wasn't genuine. Monsters like Blue and Classic's Papyrus, they just gave those gestures because they had been robotically trained that's what respectable monsters do. It helped them say with confidence, 'I'm a good monster' and helped them feel better about their miserable soft little selves. 

Edge looked back slightly at the sound of a car door closing and a small beep of locking. Blue was out of the car, waving to him again. " A bit late to be out walking, wouldn't you say, Edge?" Blue smiled at him. He wore his blue fleece coat covered white snowflakes and soft earmuffs. 

Edge stopped his stride begrudgingly and said, " Yes." He looked over Blue's car and then Blue and then asked, " And what about you? Wouldn't you usually be in bed with a warm glass of milk by now?" Edge smirked at the jab. Blue replied, unaware of it, " Yeah! But, I had to babysit tonight. Pappy would usually do it, but. . ." 

Blue trailed off and rubbed at his arms, " Brrrr." he commenting, wandering down the dark paved driveway to Edge. Edge turned around and watched as Blue approached him with large eyes, " Hey, um, speaking of Pappy." Blue began softly. He stopped a few feet from Edge and confessed, " Are you sure I can't talk to him? Call him back I mean." Blue looked up with pleading eye lights, " I know you said it was part of the plan, to make me seem 'unavailable' or what not, but, mweh, I don't like it." Blue looked out to the empty street as he explained, little breaths coming out of his teeth due to the cold. " I miss him, you know? And avoiding him seems dishonest in some way." Blue looked back up to Edge to see what he thought.

Edge watched him carefully, well Stretch OD'd so talking to him right now wasn't really a good idea. Edge knew he had the power to spill that bomb and shatter Blue's world, but he didn't. It wouldn't benefit him in any way. Was Blue useless to him again? He stared at him detachedly, trying to decide. Red had called him and said he loved and that he was sorry. Had he succeeded in making his brother jealous? Or was all because of the shock and desperation of Weedbag's overdose? Hard to say. And until he got back in touch with Red and Red said in real time that he was willing to be involved, then Edge supposed he hadn't won yet. For a little while longer he'd drag Blue along.

" I know." he replied calmly, " But you have to keep your eyes on the prize!" he added with a bit more vigor, making the innocent skeleton blink up at him widely. " You miss Stretch now, but think about how much more you'll miss him if you lose him forever!" Blue drew back slightly, curling a gloved hand with a look of horror. 

" F-forever?" he asked, in soft but clear fearfulness. Edge nodded sharply, " Of course, if he gets married to some random chick, he won't have time for his brother anymore. He'll be busy with work and helping to raise the kids. You don't have time for your siblings anymore once you get old. Everyone knows that." He gestured his hands out and Blue looked so unbelievably sad. 

" O-oh." he said and looked down to the ground with slumped shoulders, " R-right, he did mention that we won't live together or anything. . ." Edge cocked a socket as he saw soft blue colored tears forming up in Blue's sockets. " I j-just love him so much." Blue sniffled and reached up to dry the tears, " I don't know why we have to play these games. I just want Pappy to love me too." 

Edge frowned at him, rolling his eye lights, " Well wishing really hard for something doesn't get you jack, kid." he said harshly, making Blue look up, still sniffling and frowning. Edge explained authoritatively, " You've always had things handed to you on a silver plate, haven't you? Well real life doesn't work like that. You have fight for the things you desire." 

Blue frowned slightly and said, " I-I have worked hard for things." meekly. Edge scoffed and questioned, " Like what?" Blue frowned and said, " My grades!" defiantly, " I had to work really hard to make them as good as they are." 

Edge sniggered and said, " That's nothing. I meant to fight for something that actually matters! Life! Money! Power!" 

Blue blinked widely and seemed so confused, " Life? I already have life." 

" No." Edge said, poking Blue in the sternum through his coat, " You're living but you haven't fought for your life." His eyes narrowed, red lights focusing sharply on his smaller neighbor. He glared down at him as a teacher would a foolish pupil. " I know you applied for New Home, just like Stretch, but you never WANTED to go to New Home. I know you're working to get better grades right now, so you can re-apply but you never WANTED to re-apply. You're just chasing after your brother like a lost puppy follows his bitch."

Blue started, " Language!" with a disapproving, annoyed expression, crossing his arms over his chest. Edge scowled and bit out, " That's another word for female dog, you idiot." Blue blushed slightly and said, " Oh." deflating some. 

Edge put a hand on his shoulder strongly, surprising Blue, and said, voice harsh, " You're not AGGRESSIVE enough, ASSERTIVE enough, where is YOUR life headed? Monsters don't respect you when you trail after others, you have to make others trail after YOU. You're desperate." Edge explained, releasing Blue and pulling back, " And he can tell. He's a cat and you're the fluffy push-over toy, frantically hopping around for the lazy tom's attention. But you need to be the cat! The lion!" Edge decided loudly, holding up a fisted hand, tightly covered in his leather glove, inspiringly. He decided internally he should write books on this stuff, he really was the smartest! 

Blue blinked at him in shock with a befuddled expression, " Um. . ." He scratched behind his neck vertebrae and clarified uncertainly, " I have to be a lion?" not knowing at all what that could mean.

Edge nodded vigorously, feeling excited, " Oh yes! A wild tiger! A speeding cheetah! Stop being the beta and grow into the alpha wolf, Blue!" 

Blue cocked his skull to the side and asked, " Wolf? I thought I was supposed to a lion." Edge frowned and drug a hand down his face. " The specific animal isn't important!" he blurted in annoyance and Blue asked, stars growing in his eyes, " Oh! Can I be a zebra?! I love their cool stripes!" 

" What? No!" Edge responded. " Or maybe a raccoon!" Blue explained, beginning to get into this animal game, " And Pappy can be a fox and you can something cool, like a beaver or something!" 

" I'm not a fucking beaver!" Edge spat in annoyance, throwing his hands out in frustration. " Why not?!" Blue asked with a smile, " Beavers are cool! And so soft! I wish I could have a pet one but daddy says that's not allowed." 

" You're missing the point!" Edge declared angrily, stamping a foot down and Blue asked, " About keeping one as a pet? Yeah, I guess you're right. Wild animals are better off free." 

" What are you talking about?!" Edge roared and was cut off by the sound of a horn. He turned and Blue leaned out to look out into the street. Under the calm streetlights, a shiny red sports car, immaculately taken care of and with spotlessly clean windows, rolled by, Papyrus Classic waving as he got near. 

" Evening, neighbors!" he said as he rolled the car to a stop, by the curb, shifting it then into park and setting the emergency brake on. He would only be sitting here for a minute but you could never be too careful! 

" Good evening, Pap-pap!" Blue greeted cheerily, " Though it's so late, you can barely call it evening!" 

Edge glared at Classic Pap, bristling with annoyance. He was already ready to explode, looking at his moronic neighbor's face any longer was going to make him blow, which one’s? Either! They were practically the same monster anyway! He turned to stalk off and leave as Papyrus Classic asked, " Oh, Edge? Where are you off to?" 

" Anywhere away from you two dorks!" he spat grumpily as he stalked away down the street. Blue and Papyrus blinked after him a moment and then Papyrus asked, " What's under his skin?" turning his skull towards Blue, leaning slightly out the rolled down window, eyes still on Edge's leaving form. 

Blue opened his mouth to reply when Classic Sans exploded, " you mean what's under his BONES! cause we're SKELETONS!" He launched into hysterical laughter, kicking his tennis-shoe wearing feet into the dashboard and Blue blinked at him in shock. Th-that was quite the animated reaction from the usually calm and somewhat lazy skeleton. He looked to Classic Papyrus with large eyes for an explanation and Classic Papyrus wore a dry frown, " He's been like this all night." 

" W-well, why?" Blue questioned and Papyrus shrugged, " I don't know, I think he was so excited by our new friends that he's just acting strange!" Blue looked with a concerned eye ridge as Classic stopped his loud laughter abruptly and sunk back into his seat like he had dropped straight into a coma. 

Blue racked his head for explanations, " Maybe he's very tired?" he proposed with a grin and the snap of his fingers. " Sometimes my Pappy gets tired when we do a lot of activity out of the house!" And Blue knew Pappy and Pap-pap's Sans had a lot of similarities. 

Papyrus's face lit up with a light bulb and he chirped, " That's probably it!" He looked to his brother and asked, " Are you tired, Sans?" Sans gave a sleepy giggle, " you're so handsome, Pap." he said, staring to Papyrus lovingly. Papyrus smiled warmly and said, " Awe! Thank you, brother!" 

Blue chuckled, blushing slightly as he imagined Pappy saying that to him. 'You're so handsome tonight, my magnificent older brother' as a suited Stretch took his hands and took him in a breathless and otherworldly waltz across a ballroom floor with tulle and glowing pink lamps hanging elegantly from the ceiling. Blue twitched with a stronger blush over his cheekbones. U-uh, where had that come from? 

He cleared his throat, trying to ignore it, as Pap-pap looked to him and said, " Well, I best get him to bed!" 

" R-right!" Blue stuttered, an awkward smile on his skull and Papyrus chirped, " Bye, Blue!" with a happy wave of his hand as he changed the car back into drive and drove away a few houses down the street. " Bye!" Blue called and then rubbed his chilly hands together, and turned, looking back to his house. Like a lion, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	33. Liar Liar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!

" RAWR!" came a deep voice from the other side of the yellow door. Alphys rubbed at her eye, coated in heavy sleep and confusion, one eye ridge up and her one good eye squinted. She walked up to her front door, wearing her simple sleeping tank-top and sweatpants. Who in their right mind? she thought as she opened the door, which was painted with yellow scales.

In front of her on her sleepy, far too early morning porch, was a short skeleton with a large round skull, large eye lights of an electric-stars embedded-blue. He was about her height, if not a bit shorter, and wore a lion onesie of starling orange-brown, equip with paws and a large mane which made it more costume than pajama like. The reptilian woman blinked at him with her one good eye in disbelief muddled with dryness. Oh, of course. It WASN'T somebody in their right mind.

“ RAWR!” Blue repeated, bringing his hands, now paws, out like a cat’s ready to pounce claws. “ GOOD MORNING, ALPHYS! I’M HERE TO TRAIN!” Alphys stared at the younger skeleton with a look of dry disapproval, rubbing at her dull feeling cheek. “ It’s four am, Sans, go back home.” 

“ WHAT?! NO! I’M HERE TO TRAIN, ALPHYS!” Blue brought a pointed finger forward, though you couldn’t tell with the stupid paws, and posed dramatically, “ DON’T YOU KNOW THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM!” Alphys sighed with resignation, this kid, she swore. 

“ Why are you talking like that?” she asked with a small frown. 

“ LIKE WHAT, CAPTAIN?” Blue asked with large, blinking sockets. She looked him up and down in confusion, “ And what are you wearing? It’s not Halloween, ya know.” 

“ OF COURSE I KNOW THAT, SILLY!” Blue replied with a striking, powerful grin, placing both hands on each hip. “ I’M DRESSED THIS WAY AND TALKING LIKE THIS BECAUSE MY, UH, LIFE COACH, SAYS I NEED TO START LIVING LIKE A LION! LIONS ROOOOAAAARRR!!!!” Blue yelled that word to the sky and Alphys’ eye ridge twitched and she wondered if her neighbor would awake with all the noise. That introvert probably wouldn’t, Alphys had a feeling she was a heavy sleeper, but you never knew. “ SO THAT’S WHY I’M TALKING LIKE THIS! AND THE ATTIRE IS OBVIOUSLY SUPER COOL, ONLY THE BEST FOR THE MAGNIFICENT SANS!” Sans finished explaining, with a rad pose to his chest. “ SO ARE YOU READY TO START TRAINING?!” 

Alphys yawned widely and said, “ Just come inside, punk.” The lizard woman shivered, “ I’m freezing my tail off out here.” 

“ OK!” Blue pronounced and Alphys stepped back to let the skeleton in the ridiculous costume inside. Alphys’ muscular tail swished back and forth as she closed the front door quickly and then made her way down the hall to the kitchen, Blue marched after her enthusiastically. The medium-sized kitchen had checkered ground tiles of pale blue and light yellow, the walls a simple blue with faint magenta squares atop it. Alphys, still in her sleeping clothes of black and blue, came over to the gray counter and started up the coffee machine, taking out some mugs of yellow. Blue stood near the entrance of the kitchen, looking around with curiousness, not really sure where to sit. He sure hadn’t been here in awhile. 

Alphys looked back, giving one more small yawn. Showing her squared and blunt white teeth through her yawn, she said, “ Don’t be a stranger,” Her yawn ended, “ -take a seat.” Blue smiled at her hospitality, he loved Alphys! She was so cool and nice! She was so smart too! You didn’t get to be captain of the Hotland and New Home police force any other way! She taught him so much!

Blue went and sat at her simple brown table, draped in an orange tablecloth, his pelvis on one of her wooden stools, she came and sat across from him. 

“ So, dork? Whatcha doing here? And this early-” She looked slightly annoyed for a moment before her expression faded back to an easy-going smile, “ Did you say training?” 

Blue nodded vigorously and stated, “ YES, ALPHYS! I WANT TO RESUME TRAINING! I WANT TO GET INTO THE POLICE ACADEMY!” 

Undyne looked at him curiously, the coffee machine making a small streaming noise as the water, now turned brown and rich, ran down into the ceramic cup. “ I thought you were taking a break? You wanted to get into New Home I thought?” Blue nodded, looking serious, “ I did! I mean,” He looked to the side in thought, “ I kind of still do.” He looked back to her, “ But my, um, life coach says th-that I have to focus on my own dreams! My own life!” 

Alphys cocked an eye ridge in confusion, “ And going to New Home isn’t your own life?” That didn’t make much sense to her, clearly Blue was passionate about going, he had temporarily given up his plans of being a police officer for it, and Alphys honestly- was kinda glad he had. She could remember how she had to keep her visible relief internal when Blue had told her he had given it up, at least for now. She had never really thought Blue had what it takes to be an officer, not someone on the front lines, that’s why she tried to lead him to do other things, like cooking for example! He just was too soft, too caring; too emotional. She didn’t think he’d do well in the stress-high, dangerous environment of a police officer, of course she never had the heart to tell him that. He was just too earnest, she didn't want to crush his spirits, she knew how much he looked up to her. 

“ W-well, it is!” Blue replied, “ B-but, I only wanted to go so I could be with Pappy,” Blue scratched behind his thick faux fur mane which circled his skull, “ a-and my life coach says I shouldn’t trail after him. I should follow my own heart!” 

Alphys smirked and leaned back on her stool, crossing her muscular, scaled arms over her chest, “ This. . .life coach of yours, he doesn’t happen to be that ruggedly handsome Pap look alike down the street, does he?” Sans blinked for a moment, trying to think about if she was talking about Pap-pap or Edge. Blushing slightly, he guessed probably Edge. “ Um, did you, s-see the pictures too?” 

Alphys let out a loud chuckle which Blue shrunk slightly at, ah! He couldn’t escape those stupid things no matter where he went! The guilt increased every time someone he trusted talked about it! He was such a dirty liar! Liar, liar, pants on fire! Blue felt his trousers were up in smoke.

“ Of course I saw!” Alphys exclaimed, “ Your dad forwarded me them! He is so excited for you! Your first boyfriend, Blue! That’s a big deal! You never told me you were gay.” Alphys said with friendliness towards the skeleton. Blue had always been a little immature, and by a little, she glanced him up and down again in his lion costume, she meant a lot. She knew the kid was a little weird, a little. . .strange, didn’t have many friends, simple in the way he thought about things. She always felt protectiveness for him because of that. He was a good kid, she’d beat up anyone who was mean to her friend! She was glad to see him coming out of his shell and getting interested in another skeleton, it was about time! He was nineteen for God’s sake!

“ Heh, heh, . .heh.” Blue cringed his seat, feeling like the smell of his burnt costume legs filled the whole kitchen. He pulled the mane away from his face with a nervous finger. Woo, was it hot in here, or was that just the crushing weight of his deceitful sins? Oh, he missed Pappy. Why couldn’t he tell him about this?! Blue felt like he was getting into a deeper and deeper hole. Pappy would know what to do, he was always smart about this stuff! But Pappy wasn’t here, Edge said he wasn’t even supposed to talk to him! And Blue, looking up at the growing dirt walls, felt at this rate, he might never be able to climb out. 

“ Him? Oh, ha, yeah, well. Um, so,” Blue cleared his throat, some flustered blue lighting his skull, “ -um, about the training I was wondering if you’d, um, maybe train me again?” Blue’s words got more sheepish and quiet as he went. By the end of his question, they were nearly swallowing themselves and becoming nonexistent. Alphys laughed boisterously, thinking Blue’s quiet and stutters were because he was bashful about the new relationship and said, “ Sure, punk! That’s what I’m here for! I’ve missed our cooking lessons!” 

Blue smiled a little at that, he had too, he really liked Alphys. Alphys got up and went over the coffee maker which was done with her drink, she raised it to her nostrils and took a whiff, oh, yeah, that was good stuff. Nothing like coffee in the morning. “ Do you want some tea?” she asked Blue, looking back, knowing he didn’t drink coffee, Blue stuttered through an answer, “ U-uh, yes, please! Th-the Magnificent Sans would like some tea to drink!” But the grin and title felt forced and Blue felt more like getting a bucket of ice water than a steaming cup of tea. The water could put out the fire in his pants and hopefully make him sober up that he had to do something about this Edge-fake boyfriend situation before he had to break real hearts to claw his way out of the deepening, filthy pit of a hole. 

Stretch had heavy sweat on his skull as he explained, “ really, i’m fine.” looking to the female doctor with wary. He was sitting in his neatly made hospital bed in the Urgent Care center of the New Home hospital. The blankets were a simple, unassuming blue and the walls eggshell, to match the floor. There was a sitting chair or two where Red sat, looking at the doctor, who stood with a clipboard in hand. 

She asked patiently, “ Have you had problems with drugs in the past, Papyrus?” 

“ i-i-no, i, this was a one time thing.” Stretch tried to explain, looking uncomfortable. “ i’ve never done anything like this before. i thought it was safe, i was wrong. i’m perfectly stable a-and normal. “ His large sockets found Red, looking for help, “ t-tell her, Red.” Red’s scarlet eye lights found the woman in pristine lab coat and said with a scowl, “ well, i think normal is a bit of a STRETCH.” He looked to Stretch with a smirk and Stretch glared back at him, having to resist the smile pulling at his teeth over the pun. He hadn’t heard Red make one of those in forever. 

“ shut up.” he said before looking back to the doctor, “ he’s just kiddin’, please, doctor, this won’t happen again, i’m sorry.” 

The doctor looked to him with calmness, “ Mr. Papyrus, relax, I’m not accusing you of anything. You are not in trouble. I just want to make sure you are in a good frame of mind for when you leave this building, having an unexpected overdose can be a very traumatic thing.” She wrote some notes down calmly on her papers and Stretch craned his neck a little higher and wished he could make out what she was writing. She looked up and asked, “ How are you feeling?” 

“ o-oh, um, fine. i mean, it was scary, but i’m feelin’ ok now.” he said and Red offered, “ i’ll be keepin’ an eye on him. he’s just a kid.” he explained, calmly in his deep, gruff voice, leaning forward in his waiting chair, “ he made a dumb choice, i’ll be watchin’ him, doc, promise.” She looked to him and jotted another note down. “ Alright.” she said, “ Have you told your father about this?” 

Stretch grinned nervously, “ n-no.” He was eighteen; an adult! She couldn’t make him if he didn’t want to, right? 

“ Well, I think you should when you’re ready. Ketamine is dangerous, Papyrus, next time you might not be so lucky.” Stretch nodded quickly, a frown on his face, and Red watched carefully as the woman turned and said, “ You’re both free to go. Please be careful in the future.” 

“ th-thank you, doctor!” Stretch said, full of nerves and relief. Red nodded in satisfaction, standing up, his work here was done. He yawned and wondered what time it was. The monster doctor left the room as Stretch got up carefully from the hospital bed, now having his bag of clothes and possessions from when he was first admitted. Red reached down into his coat pockets and his sockets widened, what the hell? 

Stretch wondered if he should ask Red to turn around as he changed out of this uncomfortable and breezy gown. 

“ shit!” Red said, patting his shorts’ pockets, making sure he hadn’t put it there instead. 

“ what’s wrong?” Stretch asked, voice quieter than normal, feeling uncertain and out of his element here. Red gave a growl, “ my phone!” He groped around one more time. “ it’s gone!” 

Stretch frowned, “ maybe you misplaced it?” Red had gone to the bathroom a while ago. 

“ no way!” Red spat, “ i bet those assholes took it! they wanted my phone remember!” Stretch blinked widely, as his mind remembered the tall, skinny Papyrus, with dark shadows around his thinly carved and scarred face. He had a bronze tooth, dull and unassuming among his dully pointed teeth. Hiis human child partner looked like Chara but with a sweater of black and red, and their small creature in their arms. 

“ y-you really think they’d steal it?” Stretch asked with the tilt of his skull, and a frown, “ it’d be easier to borrow one from somebody else, right?” 

Red growled and started towards the door, “ easier, maybe, but it was probably personal- they were mad at me for not handin’ it over.” he explained, staring at Stretch seriously. He couldn’t believe those assholes! Stretch crossed his arms over his chest and lifted a eye ridge disapprovingly, “ can’t say i blame them.” 

Red flipped Weedbag off and said, “ hurry and get dressed. you owe me like three solids for havin’ your back with that doctor, we’ve got to go after them. all my shit is on there.” 

Stretch huffed and said, “ how will we even find them?” looking annoyed. He wanted to go back to his dorm and smoke and forget about all this, not be dragged around the city searching for some monster-human pair that wasn’t even in the wrong. Who even knew if for sure they took it? Maybe Red just left it on the toilet? 

“ you were goin’ look for that Sans guy anyway, right?” Red argued, “ that’s probably his bro, i think we’ll be able to. I mean i just gotta ask around for a guy that looks like you.” 

Stretch sighed and said, “ ok, fine, whatever.” looking down to the floor with a frown. He couldn’t deny he was feeling kind of depressed by all this. He had been a gullible idiot, Madjick had tried to kill him, or at least given him something really unsafe, and he had taken it without so much as a google search. Sans had been right, he shouldn’t have been taking stuff. He had asked Blue to trust him; trust him to make good choices! But he had just made stupid ones and if Blue ever found out Stretch didn't think he'd be able to forgive himself. His brother didn't deserve to go through that kind of duress. He deserved someone who wouldn't put him through it. 

Stretch looked up from the floor to see Red standing right before the door, staring at him expectantly. Stretch blinked once and then said, “ i’ll met you out in the hallway, Red.” Red looked him over and then cleared his throat, “ right, right, see ya there.” He opened the door and then stepped out before closing it. Stretch sighed as he began to get undressed. He swore, why couldn't Classic have gone to New Home instead of Red? He was the worst moral support Stretch had ever heard of. 

He dressed and came out and, didn't see Red there. Where was he? He looked around and asked, “ Red?” feeling rather abandon in the hallway. He crossed his arms over his orange-hoodie wearing chest and looked around at the identical looking, numbered doors and simple posters reminding you to wash your hands. He wandered out a ways and then saw a door open quickly in front of him. 

Red came out with a fast step, looking to Stretch with large sockets, looking a bit caught. He chuckled deeply and then asked, “ ready to go?” pointing out towards the hospital doors. Stretch nodded hesitantly, giving him a suspicious look. Red chuckled some more with a shrug, some sweat on his skull and hoping whoever next used the bathroom, mistook the red on the toilet seat for blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	34. Classic Sanses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe we are at chapter 34! Leave me a comment telling me ur fav part, what u like, how long you've been reading, would love to hear from any readers :)   
> Hey guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!

Sans awoke with this cold feeling all over his body. He could instantly tell this chill was caused by a thin layer of cold sweat all over his body. He shuddered and peeled his eyes open. His head. . .hurt, well he didn't know if hurt was the right word. It more of just felt like it was in a thick smog that he was having difficulty seeing through. 

The sight of his messy bedroom appeared before him, his clothes thrown right and left across his floor, random books left open and closed in random places, his bookshelf full of more crap than actual novels. His desk looked like a giant trash monster came and vomited upon it. There was a large and very wild mound of trash in one counter of the room that Sans had deemed the self-sustaining trash tornado. When Papyrus nagged at him to clean up, he shoved all his garbage there and then smiled with a cheesy thumbs up as some old, creased dirty socks rolled down off the mountain onto the floor. 

This morning though, if it was even morning; he glanced to his window with closed blinds. Sunlight was coming through strongly-though it was doubtful that was what had awoken him, Sans could sleep in broad sunlight outside given a comfy enough bench. But today something felt off. 

He groaned as he moved to get up. His whole body felt groggy and disgusting and as much as he tried he could not remember going to bed. He shuffled his way out of bed and out of his room, grabbing his hoodie that had he must have taken off sometime last night? that hung on the side of the desk. He yawned and asked, " Pap?" as he made his way out of his bedroom. His mouth was dry. Really dry. He needed some water. 

He proceeded down the spacious hallway, lined with framed formal portraits of the Classic Gaster family. From the most recent, being right after their graduation, to all the way back to when they were toddlers. His father loved hanging pictures of them around the house. Speaking of the man, Sans entered into the kitchen to see his father, Classic Gaster, drinking a cup of coffee, eyeing him suspiciously. 

Gaster was dressed formally in a black sweater tucked in neatly to sable, pressed, slacks with shiny dress shoes and belt to match. It was Saturday today, but that didn't mean Gaster wouldn't go into work, plus, he dressed this formally even on his days off. Sans was convinced it was the only outfit he owned. 

" Good morning, Sans." Gaster greeted, voice having a controlled edge to it. Sans was too tired and groggy feeling to notice. He went and opened the fridge, staring around for something to wet his mouth. He grabbed the carton of orange juice and began unscrewing the cap as he greeted, " mornin', Pops." 

Gaster frowned in disapproval as Sans lifted the entire carton to his teeth and started gulping it down. He sighed in annoyance as Sans pulled away with a 'ah', wiping across his teeth with a messy hand, to wipe away some orange dribble. He turned as Gaster asked, " Where were you last night? You weren't home till late." 

Sans shrugged, closing the fridge for now, and turning to stand beside the polished granite island, in the center of their large kitchen. " uh. . ." It took him a moment to actually remember for some reason. His memories of last night were. . .almost nonexistent. They had gone out with those two girls, Catty and Bratty Sans believed their names were; Pap knew them, he didn't, they met at some bar with shady looking customers, then. . . Sans squinted a little, raising the carton to his mouth again, wasn't Red and Edge's dad there? Uh, maybe he hallucinated that part. Man, this was hurting his head, why couldn't he remember anything? 

" we went out with some friends of Pap." 

Gaster crossed his arms over his firm chest after placing his travel cup down on the counter. " And where exactly did you go?" 

Sans sweated a little, raising the orange carton and taking another sip to prolong his amount of time to think of an answer. Did Mr. Fell tell their dad they were there? Oh, boy. " just out." he said vaguely and Gaster narrowed his eyes at him. He stepped towards to the counter and barked, " You were in Home, weren't you?!" 

Sans flinched and frowned, ah, shit. He shrugged, it sounded like his father already knew so lying wouldn't really help. " You know you are forbidden to go there without me! And you got drunk?! What kind of irresponsible child does that?! In HOME of all places! Y-you could have gotten robbed or attacked or-" Gaster shuddered, looking down to the counter, " God knows what else!" He looked up with reprimanding in his voice, " You are in a lot of trouble, young man!" Sans groaned, sometimes he swore-.

" dad." he said with annoyance, " i'm nineteen. i can do what i want." He scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, " and i didn't get drunk." he denied with a frown. At least he- he didn't think that he did? Maybe he had though? Is that why his memories were so fuzzy? He blacked out? Maybe into the night he had gotten more excited and ordered some liquor, enough to blackout though? That-that sounded unlikely to him. H-he usually had pretty good control when he drank a-and Pap was there, and he didn't really like drinking around Pap; it made him feel like a bad influence. I mean technically it was against the law, you had to twenty-one in Monster Territory to legally drink, though most monsters knew this wasn't enforced all the time.

" Nineteen or Twenty-two, you live in MY house, you follow MY rules!" Gaster reminded strictly, " You KNOW going there is dangerous! How could you put your brother in danger like that?!"

Sans scowled, a socket twitching in annoyance. He wouldn't be accused of doing anything that could possibly hurt Papyrus, he would never do anything like that! " it was PAPYRUS' idea to go! Home isn't a fuckin' wasteland! it's just kinda run-down!"

Gaster looked outraged, " Language, Sans Skeleton!" he retorted loudly. Sans rolled his eyes bitterly, oh they were breaking out the middle name now! 

" dad, come on, be reasonable," he argued, " i-i mean i meet Toriel in Home like every week! you sent me to therapy there!" 

Gaster looked at him with serious eyes, " Dr. Arachnia was, and is, a trusted friend; you were in a better section of the city and it was broad daylight. Your visits with Mrs. Dreemurr, are also during the day and at a trusted cafe. A bar? At night?" Distrust and concern were mixed across Gaster's features. " Home is a different place once the lights go down, my son.” he warned seriously, with fear in his eyes, “ You are not going to do that ever again, do you understand?" 

Sans 'tch'ed and looked to the side, " whatever." He didn't have to agree, he was an adult! He may still live in his father's house but he could move out of here whenever he wanted, there were times when he was really tempted to. 

Gaster stared at his clearly annoyed son and sighed. He was only scolding him because he cared about him! Who-who knows what could have happened?! Thank the angel nothing had. 

" Now," Gaster turned and walked back to his travel cup, taking it in his hands again, " Papyrus is working till one today, he wanted me to tell you he'd meet you at two for lunch at home." Sans still stared to the kitchen tiles with a grumpy look. Gaster ignored it and continued to inform, " I have some reports to finish up, but I'll try to be home by three, or maybe four. There is leftover spaghetti in the fridge and I made you an omelette on the stove." 

Sans peeked up at it and frowned deeper. Damn it, it was hard to be mad at his dad when he still did nice things for him he didn't have to do. Sans blushed a little, was he just being a brat? Maybe-maybe Gaster was right and Home had been a bad idea. " Remember if you need anything to call, oh, and if you should call back Stretch. He called on the house phone last night, said you didn't pick up your cell. He sounded a little stressed, so I think it would be nice if you talked to your old friend." 

Stretch had called? Sans smiled slightly, man, he missed him. Stretch was a chill guy, a little wild sometimes, but chill, and decent. He always was nice to Papyrus and generally was cool to talk to. They'd been friends for forever, not quite bestie materiel like their brothers, with slumber parties and conjoined birthdays and all that, but Sans had killed quite a few lazy summer days with him over the years and liked to think he knew the guy pretty well. 

" ok." he said and Gaster nodded, collecting his bag of lunch and keys from off the key hook. " I'll see you later, my son." Gaster said gently and Sans nodded as his dad disappeared down the hall, and left through the front door. 

Then Sans wandered over to the omelette with a sigh, poking it and realizing it was cold. He looked to the kitchen clock. Noon. Jeez. Honestly, wasn't that an unusual time for him to wake up though. Gaster must have been waiting to chew him out before he'd left otherwise he'd probably have gone and been back from the lab by now. Sans yawned, feeling a little less out of it, now that he was awake. He pulled out a nice, smooth plate and moved the omelette onto it with his hands, and then popped the egg creation into the microwave for a few seconds. 

He sighed again as he watched the ivory plate spin round and round, white numbers clicking down the time. As he stood, he rubbed at his lower jaw and pondered again why he remembered so little. Had he really gotten drunk? He could swear all he had had was root beer, but, uh, maybe he was remembering it wrong? 

He pulled the warm plate out once the beep of the machine sounded and announced it was done. He brought it to the end of the island where there was three plus stools. He could eat at the dining room table but that always felt awkward when you were just by yourself. He had snatched the orange juice carton and took another swig as he began to lazily rip chunks of omelette off; warm, sticky cheese pulling apart and getting on his fingers some. He began to eat and decided to not think about last night anymore. M-maybe he'd ask Pap about it later, Pap had been with him the whole time, right? So nothing bad could have happened. Right now, all he could do is guess and it was starting to stress him out. 

Glancing around the kitchen as he ate, he saw the house phone and that made him think of Stretch. He looked to the stove's digital clock and thought, he has to be awake by now, right? He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts to find Stretch's number. He actually knew a surprising amount of monsters. He selected it and let it ring. He clicked the speaker button and then put it down on the counter next to his plate. It rung and he was drinking orange juice as a high, somewhat nasal, voice answered, " hello?" The voice sounded tired.

" yo, man, it's Classic. how are you?" He heard a slight chuckle over the line, " oh, been better. thanks for calling me back, i just, woo, a lot has been happening down here." Sans frowned a small bit in concern, " you alright?" 

" yeah-yeah," the voice replied, " it's just my grades aren't hot and i’ve been having some. . .other issues." He cleared his throat, " let's just say i've had some school monsters go through my dorm and now i'm quickly becoming infamous around here." 

Classic's sockets widened as he asked, " they find your weed?" in concern. Classic knew Stretch smoked, Stretch had offered him some last time they hung out over Thanksgiving break but he'd declined. 

" nah, no, thank god.” Stretch replied quickly, “ my roommate kind of threw it all out because of. . .other stuff, um, i'm sorry, this is weird, how have you been? all good up there?" 

Sans was frowning slightly but replied, " it's k, yeah, all is good up here. nothing really ever changes." Sans scratched behind his neck vertebrae and even he knew that was a hollow statement, things were always kind of changing. Pap being gone so much, with college and work, that had never been a thing before, Stretch and Red being gone, Edge being followed by ominous spiders, Blue and Edge getting together, it seemed like things on Snowpoff St. were changing everyday. So much so, it made Sans kind of wish for the past back. When they had nothing to do but bike around the neighborhood and play video games and complain about math homework and plan their upcoming Halloween costumes, even if Halloween was months away. 

" how's Sans?" Stretch asked and Sans frowned even more, Stretch's voice sounded so. . .fragile when he asked that. It reminded Classic Sans of his own Pap and that made him feel even worse. Obviously, Stretch was asking about Blue.

" he's good, from what i can tell anyway. i, uh, hung out with him the other day." If you could call that intense cardio and conditioning session ‘hanging out’. That little dude had more energy than Sans felt he would ever be able to handle. " don't you know how he, uh, is? um," Sans wasn't sure if he should bring up Blue and Edge, he didn't want upset Stretch. " you could call him if you're worried." Classic explained gently. 

" yeah, i know, i have, i just. . ." Stretch gave a chuckle, it sounded a little sad, " he hasn't been answering my calls and i don't know if i did something or-. . .heh, heh, i'm good though. i'm just worried i guess a little b-but i'm ok, obviously." 

Sans nodded slowly though Stretch couldn't see him, " man, you sure you're ok?" he asked and there was a pause on Stretch's side of the phone, " yeah, yeah, no, course, dude; i'm fine. really." 

Sans cocked an eye socket in skepticism and started, " that's kinda weird though, Blue seems like the guy to always get back to you." Sans could sense Stretch nodding, " i know."

" so why's he MIA all of a sudden?" Classic pondered aloud and Stretch sighed, saying, " i don't know." Sans paused and really wanted to bring it up, oh, he, he just couldn't not! " do you, uh, think maybe. . .maybe Edgelord has something to do with it?" 

Sans was a bit surprised as Stretch growled, like a full on feral dog, " i don't know! but the second i get back there i’m walking right up to that asshole's porch and i’m going make him pay for fucking with my bro! i can't believe the nerve of him! taking advantage of somebody so innocent and earnest like that! Red told me he's probably after his virginity! ugh!!! doesn't that just make your bones crawl?!" 

Sans chuckled lowly, blushing some, for some reason the words virginity in the context of Blue flustered him, partially cause Stretch had just told him Blue was a virgin, though it's not like Classic didn't suspect that.

" that does sound gross, man." he replied sympathetically and definitely understood Stretch's rage. If anyone was dating Pap, especially if Sans suspected for a reason like that, yeah- they, their tires would end up slit. Sans wasn't trying to be crazy but ya didn't fuck with his baby bro. 

" i know!!!” Stretch cried, “ ugh, if i could just get ahold of Sans, i could convince him to stop seeing that dick!" Stretch's anger fizzled off and he sighed again, his voice returning to the tired tone it had been in the rest of this conversation. " any advice, dude? i'm graspin' at straws here." 

Sans mused for a moment and then suggested, " maybe you could call your dad? and you could ask him what's up with your bro? then maybe-" Sans paused, taking a gooey bite of his omelette, which had already begun to slightly cool, " maybe he can let you talk to Sans."

Stretch seemed to nod, " yeah, yeah, maybe that could work. i didn't even, i didn't even honestly think of that." 

Sans smiled slightly and said, " yeah, it's ok." looking down with appreciation at the omelette, " sometimes we tend to overlook those old dudes but, ya know, i'm sure your father shares your concerns about Edge, and even if not, i bet talkin' to him will relieve some of your anxieties. if Blue is mad at you, your dad is bound to know."

Stretch sighed quietly and then said, " ok, you're right, i guess i’ll have to stop being DAD at Edge and work on talking to my bro." Sans chuckled as he swore he could hear Stretch grin and wink. " ok, DAD sounds like a plan." he replied and Stretch snickered quietly, " good one, dude."

" thanks, man." Classic replied, taking another bite of omelette and then a gulp of juice, " so, uh-" Sans got a sneaky smirk on his face, he had a feeling he shouldn't ask, but, of he just HAD TO. " how is the asshole doin'? Red? ya said ya talked to him." 

Stretch groaned in annoyance and Sans giggled, those two were always getting on each other's nerves.

" ya didn't need to clarify WHO the asshole was,” Stretch complained with annoyance, “ ya couldn't mistake him for anyone else. he's a dick, as usual, i caught him picking on one of my friends, or uh, o-one of the guys i know in the hallway the other day, for no reason at all! and he's, ugh! just such a prickly pear!" Sans giggled some more, " yup, sounds like Red." 

He liked Red, he also didn't at times, I mean Red really could be a dick, but he had known the guy forever, and once you know someone that long, you realize some of his dickishness is kinda loveable, in the, uh, way you love an ugly dog. 

Sans would probably admit to you Edge scared him a little bit, he was temperamental and impulsive and a hot-head, and Red was those things too; but he was a little more chill and a little more logical. Classic knew he had a big gooey soul under all his insults and middle fingers. Classic paused as he realized that was probably the most stunning review Red had gotten in his whole life, had he always liked Red so much? Or was it just nostalgia for the old times making a more appealing picture? Maybe he'd see him again at Christmas and realize, no, he was just an ass. Sometimes he really couldn't tell. 

" and, oh my god, no way i'm not telling you THIS, dude." Stretch began and Classic leaned in with interest as Stretch's tone changed to one of gossip, being slightly quieter and fully interested. Classic took another bite of his breakfast as Stretch explained, " so i told you i went to his room the other day to talk about Edge, right?"

" yeah." Classic answered quickly, " well, we went in there and ended up arguing, i don't really remember about what now, i know he started it though, he always does.” Stretch added quickly before continuing, “ why i bother being nice to him, i honestly have no idea sometimes." Sans chuckled with amusement as Stretch's exasperation was clear. " anyway," Stretch continued, " he's bein' a dick so i yell at him and storm out, but then i realize i need his stupid bro's number, which shit, i just realized i still need." 

Sans smiled, eyes happy, as Stretch moved on, " but so, i turn around and open the door back up, right? and i can't stress how short a time period i was out of the room. like 30-40 seconds-that's IT!"

" ok. . ." Sans said with a stretching smile, waiting for what would happen next. 

" and then i open the door and he's jackin' off in there, dude!"

Classic Sans' sockets widened, " no way!" He chuckled in disbelief, " what the fuck?" 

" i know right! what the shit?! so, i'm, i'm just in shock, i'm so mortified and confused and i-i just-i just end up staring for like, i don't know, twenty seconds or something. it felt like forty years, oh my god." Stretch probably brought a hand to his face in cringing memory, " what the fuck is wrong with him? he has serious issues, Class. it's like he doesn't know how to function with other monsters." Classic snorted a longer laugh and exclaimed, " well, ya at least got to tell me if he was big or not, if you watched for so long." Sans added a bit mischievously. 

" i-i did not!" Stretch sputtered indignantly and Sans knew from experience, Stretch's skull was orange. It always was when someone made a crack that even brushed on the topic of him being with/checking out/liking guys. " i-i was just startled! that was all! like a fucking deer before it gets hit by a car! ugh, he's so disgusting! why was he even doing that?! does he have no self-control?!" 

Sans chuckled softly, not going to bother Stretch any further about it, he wasn't an asshole. " i don't know man, maybe he just really had to rub one out and was like 'fuck it, he's gone'."

" nyeh." Stretch said in discontent, " but why did he get so fuckin' turned on he had to-to do that?" 

Sans shrugged, " i don't know." Smirking as he finished off his omelette, he teased, " maybe he likes you." Stretch scoffed loudly, " that asshole only likes himself. who knows why he did that, he's just a freak and a pervert, let's leave it at that." Sans chuckled and said, " well, ok, man. at least life isn't boring down there." Stretch chuckled in dry disbelief, " heh heh, you have NO idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	35. I’ve accepted my place. No, wait, really!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for this chapter-flashback of suicide attempt. Talk about wanting to die. Deciding at the end he wants to live. Happy end, but trigger warning nonetheless! Stay safe everyone! You are so important and needed in this world!
> 
> Hey guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!

Asgore stormed in through the door he had just slammed open. Chara flinched horribly and Corn looked uncomfortable and annoyed as they both were drug through. Temmie's cat like ears were flattened and he had a scowl on his face. Asgore practically threw Papyrus and Chara both into the living room and then slammed the door, bolting it in anger. Corn looked to Chara, who was trembling, with vague interest, Chara's red, wide eyes glued on the massive goat man.

" You!" Asgore snarled, turning around, Chara whimpered, " You are the worse son on the face of the Earth! Do you understand?! How dare you deceive your father!"

" I-I'm sorry-" Chara tried to plead but Asgore ignored them, turning to Corn, " And YOU! I could have you arrested for kidnapping, you know that?!" Corn looked to him with annoyance, but didn't say anything. Asgore pulled back and took a deep inhale full of all his rage. Then he ordered, " Chara, room-NOW." Chara took a step towards the stairs and then hesitated and pleaded, " W-wait, please don't be mad at Papyrus, h-he didn't-"

" NOW!" Asgore yelled, his dark eyes and booming voice making Chara run in terror, beginning to cry. Asgore sighed as the child fled up the steps and a few moments later there was a quick slamming of a door. He grumbled under his breath, running his fingers through his dirty golden hair over his head. He looked to Corn, who frowned at him, not offering even a shrug. Corn didn't need to defend himself, he didn't really care if Asgore was angry, the only monster he answered to was M'lord. He had made his choice to sneak out, though the kid coming along wasn't entirely part of the plan, he still didn't really care about justifying himself. The old dude could yell at him all he wanted, it's not like it made a difference either way.

Asgore stared at him hard for a moment, and Corn just stared back deadly, just when Corn thought the old man would start to cuss him out and scream, he started to cry. Big, clear drops began to leak from the goat man's eyes and he made a loud hiccuping noise, his big paws reaching up to rub at his eyes. Corn startled, being caught totally off guard. He watched with wide, shocked eyes and wondered what to do. When was the last time he had seen someone cry? Someone other than himself he meant, himself crying happened every so often. 

Just as Papyrus was beginning to feel awkward, large furry, strong, VERY STRONG, arms encircled him and crushed him into a hug. " nyeh!" he made a sound of distress, skull going orange! He squirmed slightly as Asgore began to cry into his shoulder, himself being pressed into the sweater of Asgore's chest.

“ A-Asgore!” he exclaimed in surprise and Asgore continued to cry in a sad and heavy way, his tears were deep and powerful just like the rest of his voice. “ Y-you, idiot!” Asgore declared, squeezing Papyrus tightly, “ I-I-I thought you two were hurt, I-” He gave a big sniffle, nuzzling his big head into Papyrus’ skull, making Corn protest, “ nyeh!” again. Asgore’s small whiskers and coarse fur brushed against his ivory bones. “ I thought you were-!” Asgore held him so tight as he exclaimed, “ I thought you were dead!” Corn stopped his struggling at that, face saddening a bit; he stayed limp as Asgore continued to sob harshly into him. He looked to the side of the room, not wanting to see what he had done. He surrendered to let his skull rest against Asgore’s shoulder. His sockets were blazed with conflict, he always hurt people, didn’t he?

He had been coughing and hacking so much, he was convinced his body was trying to eject lungs it did not have. He heard the pounding and screaming on and outside the locked door, it was shaking as the monster on the other side tried to bring it down with just his endless wrath; not that that something to underestimate. Corn shuddered, tears dripping down his skull. H-he needed this to work. He couldn’t live with the punishment of a botched attempt. This time he wouldn’t let Sans stop him! He had to finish it! He gulped down some with the worst burning he had ever known. There was nothing more painful than this- no, all the way! 

The pounding ceased for a moment and Corn coughed some more, looking over to it from his kneeling place by the toilet, knees on the cold tile. He had given up? He raised the bottle of chemical to his mouth again, resisting the urge to vomit as he attempted to gulp some more of it down. Ugh, it was so-so disgusting. Ah, why couldn’t they make bleach taste better?! He was in the middle of drinking when- a fire axe slammed through the door of the bathroom door!

He vomited some up in shock and was trembling from head to toe. Oh my god, oh my god, he’s going to kill me! I’m going to die! No! No! He had snatched the bottle back up to his mouth. Orange streaming from his sockets, he continued to pour it down into his throat, the toxic chemical burning and making him want to gag and vomit and die. Wood splintered and shattered as the metal ax head hacked at it again and again until an arm, like a monster in a horror movie, broke through, groping around for the doorknob and then unlocking it. Corn had choked up some of the bleach with a sob onto the floor. No! No! He needed to die quickly, why was this stuff not working fast enou-?! Ras had torn in, the door slamming open, fast and destructive and loud as thunder and lightning. He hit the bottle from Corn’s hands and Corn went to grab for it, crying and gagging and-. Ras shoved him down onto the ground, Corn choking up dribbles of it. He had looked up, tears in his eyes, misery his very being, Ras would kill him, oh, it was all over, all over, it was all over. 

Ras was staring at him with a mixture of the most intense fury and panic and fear he had ever seen. Bleach stained his lower jaw, his sockets widening, as he saw the ice blue tears leaking from the devil’s sockets and his older brother grit out in pain, “ You stupid DOG.”

Corn sighed, feeling heavy and guilty. He slowly laced his arms around Asgore’s large back, “ i know. . .” he said lowly, “ i’m. . . sorry.” His voice was barely a whisper. Asgore sniffled, holding him so tight. Corn closed his sockets and enjoyed the warmth a moment. How long had it been since he had been hugged? Heh, he couldn’t remember. Maybe it had never happened. No, when he used to hang out with the Chara, more accurately, when the kid used to trail after them on the streets; before Corn was ordered by Ras to stay at home on more or less permanent leave, the kid would often try and hug him then. Sometimes they’d succeed and sometimes, Corn would let them linger just a moment or two, pretending to have been caught off-guard before shoving them away. 

Asgore’s sobs eventually slowed and then stopped, leaving him only occasionally taking a deep breath. He pulled away and looked at Corn, eyes hurt, “ What on Earth were you thinking?

Corn frowned at him and pulled his own arms back to himself, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed he had returned the embrace at all. He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and explained, “ i. . .i know what happened to M’lord,” He wasn't embarrassed to call Sans that, even in front of Asgore, for some reason right now. When he thought Sans could be dead, he realized how little his petty shame mattered over small things like that. It was just a title. Just a word.

Asgore looked to him sadly and crossed his large arms over his chest. Corn pressed, with hurt sockets as well, “ why didn’t you tell me?”

Asgore sighed and then said, “ I couldn’t. You’re. . .you’re sensitive, Papyrus. How was I supposed to guess how you would react? It was his place to tell you, not mine.” Papyrus stared at him with a gaze that wasn’t quite ready to understand, “ what if he was fuckin’ dead? then how would he have told me?” he challenged. 

Asgore frowned, “ All your father said was he was in an accident. I assumed if he was dead, your father would have told me.”

Corn scowled and said, “ but my dad didn’t say he was fine either, did he?” His sockets looked quietly angry, “ otherwise you would have been able to tell me and not worry about me doing something drastic.”

Asgore sighed, “ Yes, that is true. I was only trying to do what I thought was best, Papyrus. I care about you.” He nodded his head, “ I really do.”

Corn looked down to his worn sneakers, with a hole in them here or there, the laces untied and always remaining that way but for a scolding from Sans. “ well, i had to go check and make sure he was ok. we went to the hospital.”

Asgore watched with interest as Corn explained, “ but he wasn’t there, my dad discharged him earlier. so me and Chara called him and he answered and-” Corn felt relief go through him, “ it sounds like he’s ok.” Asgore nodded with a huff, trying to get rid of how emotional he was feeling. Those three put him through a world of stress tonight. He was so frightened, not only that Corn could have killed himself but also that Chara was injured or hurt or snatched, it was New Home, and their neighborhood was not nice. He was just so thankful they were both ok.

Corn looked up and explained, “ h-he says he’s comin’ to pick me up soon.” Asgore replied, “ Ok.” and there was silence over the room. Asgore cleared his throat and began to walk towards the kitchen. Corn turned and Asgore motioned for him to follow him. Papyrus sighed, being annoyed at having to go anywhere; he just wanted to sit right by the door and wait for M’lord, maybe watch out the front window, but Asgore seemed serious, and the old loser had just cried, soooo, Corn assumed he could at least try and humor him, though he really didn’t want to.

He came into the small kitchen behind Asgore, which barely had enough space for the two of them to move around in, with a table and two matching wooden chairs being squeezed in across from the fridge, small stove, and old cabinets, some of whose handles appeared to be falling off. 

Asgore sighed as he stared down into a pot, which still had the burner going, before he reached over it and turned the burner off. Corn looked around and then decided to take a seat at the table, cause it was better than standing. Asgore then went and lifted the pot of ruined noodle shapes over and put it to the side, then he went and reached into one of the cabinets for another large pot.

“ what do ya want?” Corn asked after a moment. Asgore looked back at him and replied, “ Did you know monsters in the past used to use fire magic to cook their food?” 

Corn cocked a socket in confusion, uh, ok? “ what about it?” he asked.

Asgore smiled slightly as he moved the pot under the sink’s faucet, “ I just think that’s amazing, that a long time ago, my grandfather, or great grandfather, or grandmother, could have shot flames out of their palms and roasted food effortlessly.” Asgore sighed as the water began to fill up the pot. “ But I try not to think about it too much, because then it makes me sad. I’ll never get to use magic like that. I don't know how and with the bans, I’ll never get to learn.” He smiled sadly and Corn cocked a socket and asked, “ what does this have to do with me?”

Asgore scoffed and looked back, “ Not everything has to do with you, ya know? You’re not the center of my universe. I have my own plans, own wishes, you’re just a tiny speck in my dustpan of responsibilities.” Corn scowled as Asgore set the new pot back on the same burner and turned it back on. Then he turned and walked over, pulling out his own chair, adjacent, and sitting down.

Asgore began softly, “ You’re young, Papyrus, and you don’t have as many experiences as myself. I know you feel old, like you’ve been through every horror imaginable, but you haven’t. Your life is only just starting.” Corn looked to him with a confused expression. Asgore sighed and explained, “ I always had a sense about you. I knew you were a good kid. I know you don’t think you are, I know you could name a thousand reasons why you aren’t, but you are.” 

Asgore’s eyes fluttered closed, and the man looked at peace as he explained, “ There has been thousands of generations of Monsters, before the Underground, during, and now us, after.” Asgore opened his eyes and looked to him, “ And they’ve all had struggles and pains and hardship. But they’ve had love too. I know you think I am a foolish old man, who cannot possibly understand your complex problems and who has no way of knowing what you’re experiencing, but I DO understand, I DO know. You feel helpless, like your world is falling apart. Like you’ll never be able to change anything, so you’d rather not try at all. You’d rather not be alive at all.” Papyrus frowned as he spoke.

“ I know I’m not your therapist, no where close.” Asgore added as he continued, “ I am just an old man with a lot of life, that’s held a lot of pain. . . But I do know that there are good things in life too; Monsters and Humans to cherish, places to see, pies to bake.” He smiled, “ I am sorry for everything you have been through, but things get better, they really do, and I don’t know why I’ve never told you that before. . .” The goat man’s dark eyes drifted down to the table a moment, “ I guess it’s because we all want to be in the headspace of no one really matters to us. We want monsters not matter to us, that way we don’t have to get hurt by them, and I. . .” Asgore shrugged, “ I didn’t want to get hurt by you. I wanted to stay at a distance. I wanted to do my job and get paid and not care about you, to not feel like you were a friend.” 

The old man sighed, looking back to the young skeleton, “ But you just can’t do that, nobody can. If you spend enough time around someone, you start to love them. Even if you wish you could not.” Asgore’s dark eyes were melancholy as he explained, “ The only way to stop that process is to leave. So that’s why I’m asking you to stay, Papyrus. Stay here with us, on Earth.” Papyrus blinked widely in surprise. “ If you spend enough time living, you will find you love life.” Asgore assured with a smile, “ You only need to push through the next day, the next hour, the next year, eventually you will realize all I say is true. You will realize that this world is nothing without you.”

Corn frowned and squirmed and felt weird, what was this old man talking about? Where was all this coming from? “ i-i, that’s not true. i don’t mean anything.” Corn said sadly, “ i’m weak.”

Asgore shook his head no, “ You do mean something.” he denied strongly, “ You mean everything. I know I sound like an old, out-of-touch, elder, but you have value, Papyrus. You could be a father someday, or a husband, a boyfriend, a best friend, a pet owner heck!” Asgore giggled, “ You are already a brother and a son.”

Papyrus frowned and explained, “ Sans doesn’t even think i’m worthy to be his brother, and my father doesn’t even acknowledge i exist. i can’t be any of those things. i’m-” Corn gave a strained smile, “ i’m kind of broken, Asgore. i’d fear for anyone or anything that cared about me, or i was responsible for. i’d just disappoint them or twist them into something they’re not.” 

He shrugged, looking off to the side, this whole conversation making him uncomfortable, “ i-i don’t want to be those things anyway, i just. . .” He flushed slightly, then looked back to Asgore, “ but don’t worry,” he began sheepishly, “ i-i don’t think i want to kill myself, at least not right now.” Asgore listened patiently as Corn explained, “ when i heard about the bomb, i thought M’lord was dead, and that, that terrified me so much, but that didn’t really make sense. i mean, even i know he’s awful to me, he degrades me and makes me do things i don’t want to and calls me a dog.” Asgore blushed slightly, well, that was certainly strange. He didn’t know Sans did that.

A strange smile crossed over Corn’s face, his eyes staring down to the table, “ and i always thought i wanted those things to stop, but once i thought he could be dead, i never wanted anything more for those things to continue. M’lord, he. . .he doesn't hate me. he doesn’t, he told me himself, and he acknowledges me more than anybody else. he cares if i take a shower or not, if i eat or not, he is always nagging and screaming at me to do stuff, and. . .” Corn shifted in his seat, looking down his lap, “ i think i like it.” Asgore blinked widely in shock as Corn flushed and scratched behind his neck, “ i think i want him to always do that to me. as long as he’s around, um,” Corn looked back up with an awkward smile, “ i think i’m just ok with bein’ M’lord’s dog.”

Asgore blinked at him in utter confusion and tried to start speaking several times before stopping again, “ Ah-ah, Pa-” Asgore looked at him with wary eyes, “ Are you. . .sure about that? You deserve to be treated well by someone, for someone to love and help you and s-support you.”

Corn blushed and said, looking like a love-stuck puppy, “ that’s ok, but i’d rather just be with M’lord. M’lord is the strongest, he always takes care of me.”

Asgore stopped him, “ This is weird.”

“ maybe.” Corn said with a light-hearted shrug, “ but i think i mean it. i think i want to be with him. i think i want to stay on Earth to be his dog.”

“ W-well, I-I mean-" Asgore sputtered, " I'm glad you want to stay b-but-" He looked very concerned, " -this has g-got to be some type of unhealthy coping mechanism!”

“ maybe.” Corn said with a grin, “ but come on, Gorey, i thought you said you understood.” Asgore frowned, with some pink flush coming into his cheeks, “ You can’t be serious.”

“ i can be!” Corn exclaimed, “ don’t you see?! i’ve been doin’ this all wrong! i’ve been thinkin’ there’s somethin’ wrong with me, because i’m so gross and sad and pathetic, but that’s cause i was dog thinkin’ he’s SUPPOSED to be a Monster! but now, i know i’m dog and i’m happy to be a dog! i’ll be his dog forever and forever and try my best to serve him!”

“ You’re scaring me.” Asgore replied, with a cringing expression.

“ trust me, it’ll be fine. i’ve been more at peace for the last two hours then i’ve been for the last three years," Corn said confidently, producing two and three fingers respectively, " because i was dedicating everything to him, so i’ll just do that everyday, forget about my sad attempt of self-decency and self-respect. i’ll just be the mutt he wants me to be, and then-then i’ll finally be fulfilling my true role in life!”

“ You need to go to therapy so badly.”

“ silly, Asgore, dogs don’t go to therapy.”

Ras pounded on the door harshly and then immediately regretted it, pulling his fist to his chest and mouthing curse words. His hand was burnt, and even through the bandages and leather glove he had on, the impact with the door still hurt a shitton. He glared at it harshly and vengefully. He was in an even more sour mood than usual, his entire body ached, all his burns felt like they were still, well, burning. The bath and the following medicated ointment had helped a lot to alleviate the pain, but the pain-killer they had put in him when he was unconscious was wearing off now and the walk over here had irritated the injuries into a merciless cophoney of burning bone. He wanted to slam his fist on the door again in impatience, but the pain from the first time forced him to control himself, how long were these stupid burns going to plague him? 

The door opened up and Asgore; in a purple holed sweater and brown slacks, his dark brown, scarred horns standing out from his faded yellow hair, looked down at him in exasperation. The dog stood beside him, with a simple drawstring bag over his shoulder and a stupidity wide smile stretching his teeth. Ras opened his mouth to begin to scold Corn when Asgore pushed him out and looking at Ras critically, and maybe a little sympathetically, said, “ He’s your problem now.” Ras blinked in confusion as Asgore shut the door quickly, and then he looked to Corn, who was exclaiming, “ M’lord!” right beside him on the concrete, broken down steps. Ras looked to him with shock; that was more energy in Papyrus’ voice than he swore he had heard in years.

“ are you alright, M’lord?! i heard about what happened! i was so-”

“ Shut up, mutt!” Ras quickly snapped, expression being twisted into something ugly, “ I TOLD YOU to listen to Asgore when I’m gone! You were not to leave his side! NO MATTER WHAT! Do you have any idea how disobedient you are?!”

Ras’ sockets widened as Corn dropped to his knees with a sorry expression on his face, “ you’re right! i’m awful and ungrateful and disgusting! i should have listened, but i was just so worried for you, M’lord, but that does not excuse my horrible impudence!” He got down on his hands and knees and Ras leaned back in confusion, what the fuck?

“ please forgive me, M’lord!”

Ras blinked widely and was at a loss for words, “ UH, ok. G-get up, damn it!” he stuttered and Corn nodded eagerly and quickly climbed to his feet. Ras looked him over, up and down, and took a whiff of air, trying to smell for marijuana, “ Did you smoke?” he asked, looking for a reason behind the mutt's sudden strange behavior.

“ n-no, M’lord!” Corn declared, sockets wide, “ smoking is disgusting! you hate it and therefore i won’t do it, for any loyal dog obeys his master’s wishes!”

Ras paused, squinting, and then said, “ OH. . .I get it. You’re MAKING FUN of me.” His sockets sharpened. Corn paled and backtracked, “ n-n-no, M’lord! i’ve just finally accepted my place in the world! you’re always telling me i’m a miserable dog, so i-i decided to accept i really was a dog!”

“ HA. HA.” Ras spat with dark annoyance, crossing his arms over his chest, only to wince at the pain of brushing against burns.

Corn noticed Ras wince but was more focused on trying to convince him, “ b-but, M’lord, please, i’m serious.”

“ And I’ve suddenly become a nun.” Ras declared harshly, glowering at Corn, “ As if you’d ever decide to stop being a pathetic, miserable sack of shit.” Corn gave a audible whine as Ras continued, “ You’re not even capable of trying to be different, you’re sad and stupid and stubborn and probably a little bit mentally retarded, and you’re going to be that way till you die.”

“ b-but, M’lord-!”

“ But nothing, idiot!” Ras took out the leash he had neatly coiled up in his leather jacket’s pocket and reached up to clip it onto Corn’s black, spiked collar. Corn made a noise of pain as Ras turned and gave him a harsh pull with the leash, “ Stop messing around and keep up, dog! Or I’ll make you run all the way home!” The fact that Ras had just been in an accident did cross Corn’s mind but he knew it didn't matter, Ras would do it, he would run home. M’lord would find a way to make him miserable. Even if it killed him.

Asgore stood with his hands laced in front of his waist as Ras explained, “ He’s been saying weird shit about himself being a dog recently, so if he does that to you- just ignore him. He’s just being a moron.” Ras was hurrying around the kitchen, pulling out pasta noodles and cans of sauce, “ Make sure he eats lunch, I got him to eat breakfast." Ras went to go out into the living room and Asgore could not believe this skeleton had been in a terrible accident YESTERDAY, anyone else would be bed-bound. “ I’ll be home at six o’clock-sharp.” Ras informed sharply, “ Make sure he gets out of bed and doesn’t lay on the couch all day. Better yet, tell him to take a shower; he’s fucking disgusting. He smells like a garbage dump full of only weed and disappointment.” 

Ras opened the front door of his and Corn’s townhouse, being fully and sharply dressed in his crisp, boldly colored blue-bandana, tied around his neck, leather jacket, dark blue long sleeve shirt, dark wash jeans, and shined to a mirror knee-high boots. “ Money is by the coffee pot.” and with that, he swung out the door and slammed it; gone in a hurry. Asgore’s eyes slowly crept up the steps to the upper floor.

He creeped into the doorway of Corn’s bedroom and leaning in, saw Corn had his head shoved under his pillow, wearing a pair of his fleece, brightly colored, kid-like pajamas Ras had bought for him that he despised. All his blankets thrown off by someone, probably not himself; tossed to one corner of the room. The bright lights invasively on and door widely open. Asgore couldn’t help a small smirk from growing over his face. He tried to push it away as he asked, “ How is being the perfect dog going?"

“ i wanpht to diphe.” Corn replied, voice muffled into his dirty, frameless mattress, “ he wonph't believve me.” Asgore couldn’t help but chuckle. Oh goodness, one problem ended, only to create another. Asgore wasn’t so sure the Monster race’s ancestry would be proud of their progress, but maybe they could relate and give mercy? Ok, no, Asgore wasn’t sure anyone could relate to this. Even in all his own years, he had ever seen anything quite so helpless before. It would be tragically depressing if it wasn’t so funny.

" He won't, huh?" Asgore asked, leaning a hip against the door frame. Corn flopped his head to the side, so it could look at Asgore; his head still pressed into the pillow. He nodded meekly. Asgore chuckled. 

" but. . ." Corn looked softly determined, " i can't give up." His weak eye lights for once looked bright. A smile crossed Asgore's face and his old, jaded soul felt warmth. That a boy, Papyrus, he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	36. Crushed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my blog if you want! https://cupidfish88.wixsite.com/danielastonebooks
> 
> Hey guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!

Papyrus was happily serving a patron a cup of cider, when the front door of Muffet’s smashed open. He looked over with wide sockets to see Blue standing in the doorway, looking around frantically. Then, spotting Papyrus, he sprinted over! Papyrus turned and started to greet his friend warmly, “ Why, hello, Blu-!” when Blue snatched onto his arm and started pulling him incessantly, towards the back of the restaurant. Papyrus nearly stumbled, back-stepping trying to keep up. He was dressed in his pristine Muffet’s uniform, a red pressed long-sleeve shirt over black pants and under a white apron, “ N-nyeh?! Blue, wh-what are you doing?!” 

Blue looked back to him, big blue eye lights distressed looking, “ I-I need to talk to you, right now, Pap-pap!” Papyrus’ expression grew into one of curiosity and concern. He looked and saw Muffet behind the counter, calmly cleaning a glass with a dishtowel. 

“ M-Miss Muffet, may I take a quick break please?” he asked as Blue continued to drag him. Blue looked at the spider woman and then halted as she looked up. H-he didn’t want Pap-pap to get in trouble at his job.

Muffet, a thin female monster with violet skin and black hair, looked up, her five black glossy eyes turning to look at Papyrus Classic and Blueberry. She smiled gracefully. 

“ Blue, dearie, it’s been so long.” she said calmly and Blue nodded, faking a smile, h-he was kind of in a hurry! DIdn’t want to stop and catch up too long. He had a GIANT problem, he needed to discuss with Pap-pap RIGHT NOW. 

“ When will Stretch be back in town?” She gave a soft laugh, “ Ahuhuhu, we miss him around here.” Blue chuckled awkwardly and said, “ Soon! For Christmas break!” She nodded and looked to Papyrus, “ Sure, Papyrus, if Blue needs you then, of course, you can take a break. Anything for my favorite regular's brother.” She smiled at Blue, through her square framed black glasses. 

Blue nodded and said, “ Thanks, Muffet!” beginning to pull Papyrus back towards the employee only door. Papyrus added, “ Yes, thank you, Miss Muffet!” hurrying after. 

Coming quickly through the wooden door, into the room full of ovens and counters, large cabinets holding all kinds of ingredients, Blue whirled around, Papyrus noticing now how his handkerchief was tied on at a weird angle and his gray shirt was half tucked in and half out of his navy blue pants, “ Pap-pap! I’m in serious trouble!” 

“ How so? Are you ok, friend?” Papyrus asked, looking sympathetic as he tilted his head to the side. “ N-no!” Blue blurted, “ I’m getting married!” 

“ What?” Papyrus asked in confusion and Blue looked flustered and nervous as he confessed, “ I-I-you know how I’m ‘dating’ Edge?!” 

Papyrus blinked widely in shock and then blurted, “ You’re DATING Edge?” Blue blinked in surprise and pulled back slightly, “ W-well, yes. I mean, no, not really! B-but, ok, I LIED!” Blue blurted, looking overcome by guilt. He looked down to the purple and white checkered tiles miserably, “ Oh, I’m so sorry, Pap-pap!” He looked back up, throwing his hands out, “ I don’t know what I was thinking!” 

“ W-wait,” Papyrus asked, reaching forward and placing a hand on Blue’s shoulder, “ -are you dating him or not?” with a frown, being very confused and concerned. Blue seemed very upset a-and if he was dating Edge, Papyrus would understand why! Not to be rude in any way, but Edge was a-a brute! And a bully! Papyrus didn’t know why Blue would ever get with a shady guy like him!

Blue looked up with big sockets, blue tears starting to form in the bottoms of them, “ I-I-I didn’t WANT to date him, all-all I wanted was Pappy’s attention!” Blue tears started to roll down from Sans’ sockets and Papyrus gasped softly in sympathy. He brought Blue into a hug and Blue began to cry softly, “ I-I just miss my brother!” Papyrus frowned as he held his friend, he knew the separation had been hard for Blue this year, no matter how much Blue tried to pretend he wasn't bothered. Blue was very sensitive, he had a big soul. 

“ I know, it’s ok.” Papyrus wrapped Blue in his long arms warmly as he reassured, “ Stretch loves you.” 

Blue continued to cry and nuzzle his face, sockets squeezed closed, into the front of Papyrus’ apron, “ I-I know that, but I was selfish, Pap-pap.” Blue raised his hands to his face and tried to wipe away his tears, sniffling, “ But I wanted him to love me MORE, Pap-pap. I want to be the most important thing to him, just like he’s the most important thing to me! But I’m NOT!” Blue cried and Papyrus was stunned at the passion and pain in Blue’s voice. Blue pulled away and Papyrus let him go. 

Blue sniffled and turned to the side, so he didn’t have to stare at Papyrus. He looked down to the floor and sighed after a moment, “ I wanted more. . .and that was selfish. And I lied, Papyrus. I took my father’s things. I-I’ve been a bad monster.” Blue crossed his arms over his chest, looking away with stressed eye lights. 

Papyrus frowned and walked up and put his hands on Blue’s shoulders, standing behind him, “ Blue?” he said gently and Blue sighed, saying, “ But you wouldn’t get that Pap-Pap, would you? Cause you’re perfect.” He looked up with sad sockets, “ Sorry, I-I shouldn’t try and get you involved, I know it’s my own problem. I-I’m not even that good a friend to you, you don’t-” 

“ Stop that!” Blue looked surprised as Papyrus’ sockets got a little harder, “ Don’t say that!” he scolded harshly and spun Blue around, making Blue almost stumble. Blue looked up with big blinking sockets as Papyrus pronounced sternly, “ I’m your BEST FRIEND, Blue. I WANT to help you! I don’t know what you’re talking about exactly, but I am NOT perfect. I am very great, but I am not perfect. And you,” Papyrus grinned, “ are very MAGNIFICENT! But you are not perfect either.” Papyrus smiled warmly and reached up and wiped away with his thumbs under Blue’s sockets, though there was no tears right now. “ But I don’t think you’re selfish, or a bad monster. Now, do you want to sit down and tell me what happened?” 

Blue blushed slightly and said, “ B-but, you need to get back to work.” 

“ It can wait.” Papyrus assured, “ Muffet had said anything for you, right?” Pap-pap winked and Blue nodded shyly. “ So, do we have a deal?” Papyrus asked with a smile.

“ Ok.” Blue agreed quietly. 

They sat in the wooden stools over by the donut maker and Blue began to tell the story, about how he had been missing Stretch an, according to himself, unrealistic amount, about how he had found the bong in Stretch’s room. Papyrus needed Blue to explain to him what that was, Blue provided the explanation, ‘A demon drug device’, then moving on to the conversation with Stretch where Stretch had told him what he already feared, that they weren’t going to live together when they were grown-up and to Blue, it felt like he was losing his brother. He confessed with great shame about how he had taken his father’s pills and Papyrus had taken his hand and held it during that part. Blue explained how he had tried to call him because of his reaction to the magic mood stabilizers but had texted Edge instead, who showed up being the Knight in Dark Armor that he was. Blue told Pap all about how Edge had said he had to fight for Stretch’s attention and he explained how he was desperate enough to try anything, so they had started fake dating. He told Papyrus how Edge told him he shouldn’t answer Stretch’s calls and the pictures they had taken.

“ I-I’m surprised you didn’t know about it already.” Blue said softly, rubbing his thumbs together nervously in his lap, “ It seems like everyone I know does.” He looked up and asked, “ Have you not checked your Undernet recently?”

Pap-pap shook his skull no, “ I have! I saw those pictures! I just thought you two were being friendly!” Blue blinked in disbelief and then chuckled softly, “ No, Pap-pap, they were supposed to be romantic. Pl-plus, I put in the caption that he was m-my-” Blue blushed as he said the word, “ -boyfriend.” 

“ Oh,” Papyrus said, “ you meant it like that?” He blinked widely, “ I thought you meant boy space friend, like a friend who is also a boy!” He grinned brightly and Blue chucked warmly, “ Oh, Pap-pap.” He shook his head with amusement, “ Why would I have not put a space?”

Papyrus shrugged, “ I don’t know! I thought maybe you just forgot!” Blue giggled and honestly did feel a little better to get this off his chest, to someone who WASN’T Edge.

“ Mweh heh heh, the Magnificent Sans never forgets his spaces!” he replied and Papyrus smiled at him warmly as Blue chuckled, at the end it becoming a little quieter and then saying, “ But, I’m in deep trouble now.” 

Papyrus blinked widely, “ Why?” He gasped, “ Wait, has Edge has really fallen in love with you?!” he exclaimed and Blue blinked in shock before shaking his head no furiously!

“ Goodness, no! It’s just that, m-my dad was really excited, and I mean REALLY excited that I had gotten a, um, boyfriend, and I mean, he ran out of mood stabilizers a few days ago because of-” Blue rubbed at his arms guiltily, looking to the side, “ -me. And so,” Blue looked to Pap-pap, “ -that leads us to now, where, um-” Blue pulled out his phone and spun it around to show a Undernet post, Papyrus looked over it with wide sockets. 

He then took Blue’s iPhone in his hand and said, “ Well. . .this is horrible!” 

“ I know.” 

Papyrus looked to Blue in deep concern, “ D-did your dad even ask you if you wanted to do this?” Blue sweated some visibly, looking nervous, “ Yeah, he kinda, um, did but I. . .I panicked and told him yes!” Papyrus made an expression of despair, “ W-well, that’s not good.” 

“ I know!” Blue exclaimed with a look of horror on his face, “ I don’t want to be Mrs. Fell for the rest of my life! I want to be with Pappy!” 

Papyrus put a hand to his lower jaw and made a ‘hmmm’ sound as he brainstormed, “ Wait, no! Your dad can’t! I mean being married needs the consent of both monsters!” he continued, “ Edge has to say yes and he-” Edge was already engaged to that other Undyne woman, right?

“ He did!” Blue blurted and Papyrus’ sockets widened, “ Wh-what? What do you mean?” 

“ H-he agreed!” Blue repeated, “ My dad called him right after he asked me and it was on speaker and I heard him say it with my own ears!

“ Wh-what in the world?!” Papyrus exclaimed, Edge-Edge had agreed to get married to Blue?! What kind of strange dimension had he just been thrust into?! Edge always used to call Blue a nerd, and plenty of other names Papyrus would rather not repeat, and now he was willing to marry him after dating for what, a few days?! Pl-plus Edge must have broken off his engagement to Undyne then? For Blue?!

“ H-he’s in love with you?!” Papyrus exclaimed, now really unable to find any other explanation. 

“ I don’t know!” Blue blurted, looking incredibly distressed, “ I doubt that! But-” Blue’s eyes shrunk slightly, doubt creeping in. 

Wh-what if faking a relationship was just a ploy to get me to date him?! he thought suddenly with fear. Maybe he made it all up because he had some sort of pining crush on the Magnificent Sans?! W-were the tigers and lions some kind of metaphor?! W-was he trying to communicate with me?! “ D-do you think it is possible?!” he asked in terror. Oh, he didn’t want to break Edge’s heart! B-but he didn’t feel the same way!

“ I-I don’t know!” Papyrus replied, eyes sockets beginning to get scared himself, “ But we need to get to the bottom of it!” He stood up and said, “ We’ve got to go talk to Edge right this moment!” 

Blue stood up too, with a fearful look, and asked, “ Y-you’ll get him to tell my dad no to the wedding?” 

Papyrus said, “ We’ll try to! You know how stubborn he can be! And if we can’t, you’re going to have to!” Papyrus declared strongly. Blue looked scared, “ But I-I can’t disappoint my dad! M-monsters already know about it! I-if I call it off, I’ll make them sad!” 

Papyrus sighed and then replied earnestly, “ I don’t think getting married for the rest of your life to someone you don’t love, is worth it to make a few monsters happy temporarily. I’m sure if you just explain yourself, everyone will understand!” He grinned brightly, “ I did, right?” 

Blue looked unsure, looking away to the floor, “ But then they’ll know I lied to them. . .” Blueberry fought, “ a-and if my dad finds out about the pills, and if Pappy finds out about. . .everything, I-” Blue sighed, “ They won’t like me anymore. They’ll know I’m a liar.” 

Papyrus smiled symapthcially and encoarged, “ You just wanted to be with Stretch, Stretch is an awesome monster, I’m sure people can relate to that. They know you, Blue, they know you’d never do something out of ill feelings. You’re a nice monster- a good one” Blue looked up, unsure, as Pap explained, “ They love you, so it’ll be ok.” 

Blue sighed and responded lowly, “ Ok, maybe you’re right. . .” looking down to the floor. Pap, sensing he wasn’t completely convinced, grabbed his shoulder and encouraged, “ Plus, if you got married to Edge, you wouldn’t get to be with your brother, right?” Blue sighed as Pap began to lead him to the door. Pap would ask Muffet if he could cut out a little early. 

“ I’m not going to get to be with him either way, Pap.” Blue said sadly, “ He already told me. I’m doomed to lie about being in love with others forever.” 

Papyrus chuckled uncomfortably, with some sweat on his skull, at his friend’s pessimism, “ Well, that’s a later hurdle. Let’s just deal with the upcoming marriage problem first, then we can deal with you and Stretch and your crush.” 

Blue stared up at Pap and said, “ It’s not a crush, Pap-pap.” He gave a frown, and put his hands in his pockets, slouching over, “ It’s a crushed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	37. Let’s Stop Running!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a day late, folks! Hope you all had a good Christmas and any other holiday! Kisses and hugs! Merry New Year, bitches! I can't believe we're almost to the end of Modern Mix!!!! <*: 
> 
> Hey guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!

Papyrus, with Blue close behind him, knocked on the Fells’ door. They waited for a second on the old, creaky, somewhat creepy sounding, porch, staring at the faded red door with worry. There were some footsteps and after a minute, the door opened. Mr. Fell opened up the door, looking rather annoyed. He wore a red sweater tucked into black pants above sable boat shoes. Papyrus looked with concern to the purple-bluish bruise on his right cheek, standing out clearly from the pale flesh. 

“ What do you two want?” Mr. Fell grunted, reminding Papyrus of all the time he had tried to sell him monster scout popcorn over the years. Sans always had complained they should just skip his house but Papyrus thought it would be impolite to not even give him a chance to buy any! Of course, they usually got a door in the face and a terse, ‘Go away’. But he still thought it was an important effort that they ask! 

“ Good afternoon, Mr. Fell! Me and Blue were wondering if we could talk to Edge! I-is he home right now?” 

Gaster gave a low huff and said, “ Yeah.” He looked up the stairs bitterly, “ The low-life is up in his room, go talk to him if ya want.” Then he shrugged, turning and clicking his teeth, “ I don't care.” As he started to walk down the hall, Blue and Papyrus let themselves inside, Blue closing the door behind them.

“ Is your face ok?” Blue asked and Fell Gaster paused and looked back, “ Huh?” Blue blinked with an expression of concern and pointed to his own cheek, “ You look hurt.” Fell Gaster blinked and then growled, “ It’s nothing.” defensively as he hurried down the hall and disappeared. Blue frowned at Papyrus and Papyrus said, “ I do hope he’s ok.”

“ Yeah.” Blue agreed with a nod.

They looked around at the narrow hallways and dark wooden walls. Blue felt a shiver run up his spine, there were no pictures or drawings on the walls. Barren shelves. Like no one even lived here, gave him the creeps. Papyrus nor Blue could remember the last time they had been in the Fells’ house, it's not like they were friends with Red or Edge, so they were never invited inside. 

“ Where do you think Edge’s room is?” Blue asked and Papyrus shrugged, “ I don't know.” They had begun to creep forward cautiously as if in a mystery cartoon. They reached a narrow, rickety looking staircase and Blue suggested, “ Maybe upstairs?”

Papyrus nodded, “ Sounds good!” and they started up, one at a time, since you’d have to squeeze to get up otherwise. They reached the top and then proceeded down that narrow hallway, Papyrus stopped at a door with caution ‘Keep Out’ tape on it and skull posters and asked, “ Do you think this is it?” to Blue.

Blue cleared his throat and knocked on the door, ready to find out. “ Edge?” he asked, his voice sounding a little timid, “ You in there? It’s Blue.” 

There was another moment with the sound of boot-clad feet stalking over, before the door swung open. “ Sup?” Edge greeted. He was dressed in his usual leather jackets, a series of golden spikes and studs along the shoulders, and a black tank top with a white outlined skull on it, that with leather pants and polished boots. He looked over the two nerds with a smirk. He could see Blue already growing a pouting grumpiness on his face.

“ How could you tell my dad you want to get married to me?!” Blue exclaimed, a look of distress and restrained anger on his face, “ Did you see the post?! He’s planning the wedding for Wednesday! Do you WANT to get married to me?! You don't even like me!” 

Edge chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning one hip against the side of the doorway. “ Too true.” he commented playfully. 

Papyrus looked distressed as he expressed, “ So you aren't in love with Blue! I knew that couldn't be true! You're in love with that Undyne girl after all!” 

Edge startled and scolded, “ What? No! I'm not with Undyne, idiot!” 

Papyrus blinked widely, “ S-so, you ARE in love with Blue?” 

“ NO!” Edge blurted. God, he was an idiot. He looked to Blue with annoyance, “ Why is HE even here?” Blue scowled grumpily and grabbed onto Papyrus’ arm protectively, “ Because he’s my best friend and he's supporting me!”

Edge rolled his eyes in annoyance as Blue released Papyrus’ arm and demanded, “ Now you're going to call my dad right now and cancel the wedding! This is crazy!” 

Edge, a shit-eating grin on his face, replied teasingly, “ But I heard you said yes, I couldn't break an admirer’s heart.” 

Blue stamped a foot down in anger, “ No! I didn't say that because I want anything to do with you! I-I just couldn't disappoint my dad! H-he. . .” Blue quieted down some, “ He seemed so happy I finally had someone. . .”

Edge watched with amusement, these monsters were so fucking stupid; this whole thing was. What a joke. First of all, what father in their right mind decided to throw a wedding after his son had been dating someone for a few short days?! He had always known Stretch and Blue’s dad was a loon, but this proved it. And what the hell was wrong with Blue?! He was right! The kid really did have no spine! Who would go along with something like this insanity just to make someone else happy?! Blue was going to be under someone’s grinding heel his whole life, wasn't he? 

Oh well, Edge had even tried to help him, but you couldn't make someone not a coward if they continued to choose to let themselves be one. Some people would just be groveling worms for eternity, he supposed that was just how the world was. 

“ Whatever.” he said callously, “ I guess you’re just going to have to get used to being my wife.” Blue grew a look of horror, blushing, “ No way! Y-you don't even want to marry me! You just said so!” 

“ Y-yeah!” Papyrus put in, “ Why would you do something like that, Edge?!”

Edge chuckled darkly, standing up a little taller, staring down at Blue, “ Maybe I just like to see you miserable.” 

Blue grew a bubble of anger in his belly. “ Why are you so MEAN?!” he shouted, “ You’re such a bully! I never did ANYTHING to you! I was so wrong to trust you! You never help anybody but yourself!” Blue turned sharply, some tears coming into his eyes, at both his anger and overcoming despair, “ Let's go, Pap-pap, he's not going to help us.” 

Papyrus frowned but turned to leave with Blue. Why was Edge so uncooperative? Did he really just like seeing monsters upset? Wh-what kind of monster liked that? 

Edge was taken off-guard by this. They were just going to- he sighed and said, “ Wait.” taking a step out of his room.

Blue looked over his shoulder bitterly, “ Why should we?!” 

Edge was frowning, begrudging; not exactly how he wanted it to go, but he could salvage this. 

“ I will call your dad and call off this crazy stupid wedding.”

Blue’s eyes widened with hope and Papyrus looked back with interest. “ R-really?” Blue asked, turning around and letting his anger seep away. 

Edge nodded stiffly, feeling uncomfortable. He was supposed to use it as leverage, to get them to do what he wanted, but now he felt like the power was in their favor and he was just asking something of them. Great. 

“ Yeah.” he said shortly, “ I just need you to do something for me.” 

Blue frowned, feeling dread, and asked, “ What?” unsurely. 

Edge gave a huff, crossing his arms over his chest. “ I need a ride to New Home. My brother. . .he-” This was so weird, since Blue had no idea about Stretch’s OD, “ -he recently saw something, kind of traumatic, and he left a message asking me to call him back. But now I've called a dozen times and he hasn't picked up. Uh-” Edge blushed some, this was so weird, “ a-anyway, I want to go down and see him to make sure he’s. . . not done anything stupid.” Red had a history of drinking and drug problems, not to mention depression, and well, Edge was a little worried to be honest. 

“ Awe!” Papyrus commented with a smile, “ You're worried about him!” 

“ I am not!” Edge snapped, flushing, and Blue sighed in relief, he thought it would be something way worse. Like more pictures or something. 

“ Ok,” Blue said, “ -if you call my dad and tell him, gently please, that you don't want to get married, I’ll give you a ride to New Home.” Blue flushed with excitement, th-that gave him a chance to see Pappy anyway! Th-this was all working out! No one was going to get married and nobody had to be sad. He smiled, why did I ever doubt it?!

“ The Magnificent Sans is always willing to help a skeleton in need!” he announced with a wink. 

Edge blushed further, arms over his chest with a scowl. Stupid fucking spider woman trashing HIS ride, he HATED asking anyone for anything! He could do it himself! He could have taken the bus, but he hated the bus, it was fucking disgusting. So many strange people in shabby clothes that always seemed to smell of piss. Ugh, he could shudder just thinking about it. 

“ Whatever.” he said, “ I’ll call him now.” He pulled out his phone and dialed back the number that had called him this morning. He trusted these two idiots to follow through on their word. They were too stupid to lie. 

Blue entered into the house in a hurry. He needed some things before the sudden trip down the New Home, he was actually feeling kind of excited as he searched around for his water bottle and phone charger. He remembered to grab some tacos for the road last minute, and scurried down the hall to the kitchen. 

He paused at the kitchen’s doorway, hearing a soft, gentle noise coming from the living room. He turned slowly, adjusting his skull towards the sound. It was a soft crying. He frowned instantly, oh no. 

He peeked into the living room, one of his blue gloves on the door frame. He saw his father, with his legs, in his tan slacks, pulled up to his orange and blue sweater vest’s chest, gently crying, his arms wound around his legs. Blue frowned further, oh gosh, he had wanted nobody to get hurt. Dang it, lying always had consequences, didn’t it? He took a deep breath and walked in, he came up to the couch and sat down next to his crying father.

Swap Gaster looked up with surprised, puffy eyes, “ S-Sans?” Blue gave him a gentle smile, “ You ok, dad?” 

Gaster sniffled and wiped at his eyes with the back of his paint-stained sweater sleeve, “ Y-yeah, I-” He began to sit up slowly, bringing his legs down to the floor. “ S-Sans, I-” He sniffled harshly and looked away to the floor, “ Edge c-called me and-and-” His voice choked, “ I know how e-excited you were a-and-” 

Sans brought his arms around his dad’s shoulders and said, “ Dad, it’s ok, I know. You don’t have to say it.” 

Gaster blinked in surprise and then slowly brought his arms around his child, “ A-are you ok?” he asked with a loud sniffle. 

Blue smiled gently, face pressed into his father’s warm shoulder, “ Yes, daddy, Edge just wasn’t ready. He’s young, we both are. I understand.” 

Gaster nodded and gave Blue a loving squeeze, “ You’re so brave, my son, I-I can never express how proud I am of you.” 

Blue felt his soul warm with love and said, “ Thanks, dad, you’re-” Blue gave him a happy squeeze, “ You’re my favorite dad in the whole world!” Gaster giggled happily, tears mostly drying up, moods swinging and leaving quickly without his medication.

“ Aw, baby.” Gaster rubbed at his eldest’s back with a tender hand and pulled back gently with a concerned expression. Blue pulled back and looked to him with large sockets. 

“ I-” Swap Gaster began with an expression of sympathy, “ I just, I know how you’ve been since Pappy left. You. . .you miss him so much and-and you’re so brave and you don’t talk about it.” Blue felt guilty as his father looked back to him with tender eyes, “ I just, I wanted you to be happy again, and Edge was the first thing you had decided to do on your own since he left, I just-” Gaster brought a hand forward and rubbed at Blue’s cheekbone gently, Blue flushing happily, his father really did love him, didn’t he?

“ I just wanted that happiness to last, last forever.” Gaster informed, his star eyes of bright orange and crayon blue pulsing with affection. He sighed, “ I’m sorry it didn’t work out, I’m sorry I pushed it too fast.” 

Blue giggled and brought a hand up to hold over his father’s, “ It’s ok, dad, you were just doing what you thought was best. I love you so much! I-I’m very sorry I made you worry.” he said a little more ruefully, “ B-but I’m going down to see Pappy right now! So, I’m sure I’ll feel better when I get back, I-” Blue took a deep breath, steeling himself. “ There’s some stuff we need to talk about.” 

Gaster looked with wide eyes and asked, “ A-are you sure? I can come with you?” Blue smiled gently and said softly, “ It’s ok, dad, I’ll be careful, Edge is coming with me.” Gaster smiled and replied, “ O-ok, well, I trust you.” Blue nodded and leaned up and kissed Gaster on the forehead. Gaster giggled warmly. As Blue sat back down, he explained, “ You should probably call the pharmacy, by the way, Daddy.” Gaster blinked in confusion and Blue said shyly, some blue coming over his cheekbones, “ You’re out of pills.” 

“ I-I am?” Gaster asked, being slightly shocked. Blue giggled, “ Yes, sorry I didn’t tell you before.” Taking this in for a moment, Gaster then paused and then looked to Blue, “ I-I didn’t do anything irrational, did I?” Other than try to throw me a wedding, Blue thought, nope. 

“ N-nothing, Dad, promise! Just make sure you get a fresh order of them, I’ll pick them up on my way in tonight.” Blue explained and Gaster nodded, a shy flush on his cheeks. “ O-ok, I’m sorry to inconvenience you.” 

“ It’s never any problem for the Magnificent Sans! I’ll always be there for you, Father!” Blue announced, jumping up and striking a fantastic pose. Gaster laughed happily, clapping his hands in approval, “ Yay!” 

Blue looked back and said, “ I’ve got to go now, I’ll see you soon. Alright, Father?” Gaster nodded, “ Right! I’ll be in the basement!”

Blue hopped into the driver seat and buckled in, took the brake off, shifted the car into gear. Edge looked over from the passenger seat with annoyance, “ What did you do? Have a family reunion in there?” 

“ Don’t be grumpy, Edgy!” Blue scolded as he began to back out, “ I would like this drive to be pleasant for both of us!” 

Edge rolled his eye lights, arms crossed, and looked out his window. His thoughts roamed to Red, he hoped that idiot was ok. The fact that he wasn’t picking up his phone after HE asked Edge to call was a decently bad sign in Edge’s book. He glanced over to Blue and asked, “ We taking the turnpike or 808?” Blue looked back to him with blazing stars in his eyes, “ Whichever way gets us to Pappy faster! It’s time to stop running from our problems! We’re going to be two lions on the chase!” 

Edge looked surprised for a moment and then chuckled, “ Yeah, ok.” he said, trying to bury down his amusement. Blue was pretty dorky, wasn’t he? Even saying Edge’s cool phrases, he still sounded like a four year old sitting in the driver’s seat. Though, Edge couldn’t deny, maybe on some level, it was endearing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	38. Filthy Minds Think Of Irony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy! Second to last chapter! Check tags for updates, dorks! Have a great read, my skeleton lovers!
> 
>  
> 
> Hey guys! I am so excited to announce my new book! Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!

Red combed the streets of New Home, a yawn pulling at his features. Man, this was pointless, wasn’t it? He just had to accept his phone was probably in the bottom of a dumpster somewhere. This sucked. He was in a plenty sour mood, though his mood could pretty often be described as sour. Weedbag had thrown in the towel on the phone search a few hours ago, being more exhausted than Red knew he looked, and he looked like shit. Red could have blackmailed him into staying but Weedbag just looked so miserable, he had let him go. In fact, Stretch looked so bad, Red had almost wanted to say something to him. Ask him if he was ok, or maybe, offer some. . .weird condolence or something. Scratching behind his neck vertebrae as Weedbag walked away, he decided it would just sound ingenuine coming from him, as most things did. So he was out here, looking for his stolen phone, by himself.

Reporting it to the police was an option, but Red had a vendetta against cops, fat crooks the lot of them, and anyway, they had more important things to do than look into some college punk’s missing phone. Red had thought it’d be pretty easy to get information out of people with having Stretch literally a walking example of the monster they were looking for, but, oddly and annoyingly, monsters seemed to scatter when him and Stretch showed up. He wondered if this Papyrus guy had a nasty reputation or what? The monsters they were able to corner, looked like were about to piss themselves, and rambled useless nonsense before bolting or making a quick excuse to get the hell out of there. Red rubbed at his tired sockets walking along the cold, but clean, New Home street. Then, he knocked straight into somebody. 

He fell back with a curse, landing on his pelvis, being able to stop some of the fall with his elbows that stung even through his black jacket. He looked up with a nasty scowl, “ hey! fuckin’ watch where you’re-” He trailed off, looking up with wide eyes, the sun glare obscuring his vision some. “ dad?” he asked in utter shock, looking the monster up and down. 

The monster smirked, he was tall, thin but tone. He had an orange sweater of roughly abused fabric snugly covering his chest and black button-up jacket with a ivory-fur trim, over black slacks and rubbed up black dress shoes. “ Sup, pumpkin?” the monster greeted, voice more lyrical than Red’s father’s gruff voice had ever been. He leaned over him with a condensing expression, “ Taking a morning stroll?” 

“ u-uh,” Red sputtered, trying to pick himself up and get over the shock of, seeing dad? Seeing a guy who looked like dad? H-he had no idea. “ uh, are-are you my. . .dad?” he asked with a confused expression, cutting straight to the chase. Gaster cocked an eye and then chuckled, “ Oh, darling, that’s up for debate. I’m sure you’d say no.” Red stiffened as the man who looked like his father snatched around his forearm tightly. “ I don’t know who you think you are, being out here like this, but you need to go home. Now. It’s not good for monsters to see you weak like this.” 

“ what the fuck?!” He pulled away, “ let me go, you freak!” Red didn’t like being touched by strangers, this was NOT his dad. Gaster paused, coming a little closer with narrowed eyes. Red’s sockets widened in surprise as he saw this man, with a striking resemble to his father, had orange and blue eyes with stars in them, unlike his father’s red cutting stabs. Weedbag and Blue’s dad? The lines on his face were inverted like Swap’s dad. This was clearly not his father’s stupid mug, he had that unpleased scowl burned into his head and would until the day he died. 

“ So that’s how you want to play, fine.” The Gaster began to tug him along the street, turning sharply, “ Let’s go then.” 

“ w-wait, what the fuck?! wh-who do you think i am?!” Gaster gave him a severely annoyed glance for a split-second before pulling his eyes forward on the street, “ I think you’re my aggravating and hard-headed son with far more brash ambition than talent.” Red nearly tripped over his untied, abused sneakers. “ well, i ain’t!” he blurted, “ now!” He dug his heels into the street so harshly, pushing all his weight back, Gaster stopped. “ you got two seconds to let go of me!” Red’s sockets flashed to one in pitchness and the other a burning crimson ring, “ before i fuck ya up.” Gaster looked to him suspiciously, seeming to really look him over. 

“ . . .If you come with me, I’ll let you go.” Gaster explained, still holding on. 

Red growled lowly, “ i don’t wanna negotiate.” 

Gaster smiled calmly, “ Come on, sunshine, if I see my son with you’re still here, then obviously you’re not him, and you’ll,” He gave a placid, dark laugh, “ you’ll get to see something really cool.” Red hesitated a second. Something really cool? This guy mistook me for his son? Red thought, then. . .his son must be another skeleton that looks like me! H-he’s going to take me to the Sans’ house! Red realized, and there, will be his stupid brother, that looks like Weedbag, who had his phone! If Red was going to get his phone back, this was his one shot. The stupid angel or whatever had blessed him. 

“ . . .ok.” he said after a moment, pulling his arm away harshly and Gaster letting it go, “ but you’ll see i ain’t your damn son! a-and it better be worth my while.” he grumbled and Gaster smiled softly, “ Ok.” he replied and began walking swiftly, “ This way.” Red paused for a moment, feeling BONE-tired, heh, and then followed after the tall, flesh monster with skin like white silk. 

This was the worst part of New Home Red had ever seen, it reminded him of Home, of sneaking around patrolling cops and chasing/being chased by angry locals. Him and Pap sure did some dumb shit, he thought back to it with almost fondness for a moment, it made him a little concerned that Boss was doing that on his own now. He felt a little bit of berguding worry, what if that brash moron got in over his skull? Who would be there to save his ass? No, Red had to deny himself, h-he treats ya like dirt and gets under ya bones! Th-that’s why we came to New Home in the first place, to get a fuckin’ break from our shitty family. But being here, climbing up some steps with a guy that looked like dad, it made him doubt his decision. Maybe there was a value to their foulness? Maybe there was. . .something good in it? Ugh, he didn’t know what stupid shit he was thinking about, he was tired as balls. He had been awake most of the night with Weedbag’s craziness after all. 

The Gaster unlocked several bolts that made Red wonder if the guy had heard of overkill, although with his increasingly annoyed expression and the fact that he paused after each of them and attempted to open the door, Red wondered if he had been the one to put them there at all. Finally getting the door open, the Gaster stepped in carelessly and Red came in behind him, looking around warily. He had to be careful. I was unlikely this was a trap, he didn’t know what this guy could possibly have against him. But it was possible, so he had to keep his guard up. 

Out of the corner of his socket, somewhat behind the door, Red saw a form of white, something metal raised overhead. “ watch out!” he called instinctively, the Gaster snapped his glare to the side and leapt out of the way of a frying pan crashing down just where his head had been! Gaster cursed and reached into his jacket for something, staring to the intruder. Red looked with shock, tightening up into a fighting stance, as he saw a male goat monster in a frayed purple sweater and cheap slacks posed to battle further with his pan. 

Gaster paused, recognition coming into his eyes, “ Asgore?” he asked with shock. 

“ What the hell are you doing here?!” the goat man roared, gripping the pan handle like he was. . .scared. He was so big, why would he need to be? Red looked between the two with a fierce expression in case he needed to defend himself or get the hell out of here. 

“ I-I live here!” Gaster explained, flailing an unarmed hand out, “ Why are you here?!” 

Asgore squinted at him, anger in his expression, but then slowly lowered the pan to his side, thinking, his expression softened as he asked, “ You live here?” in quiet shock. “ Sans?” Asgore looked to Red with a distressed expression, “ Is this true?” 

Red blinked widely and then blurted, “ uh, i think so, he had the keys. but i don’t know! don’t look at me, dude, i don’t live here.” He dubiously began to relax, ok, so they weren't going to fight? He looked to the Gaster a bit more warily, that monster had been reaching in his jacket for gun. No doubt about it. 

Asgore looked to him with confusion and then looked back to Gaster. Gaster gave a low breathy groan, bringing a stressed hand to his temple, “ So why are you here, Asgore?” 

Asgore’s eyes widened as he put together bits of information, “ I’m watching YOUR son, you ungrateful man!” he exclaimed, stamping a large foot down, placing a hand on his hip, expression turning to chiding, “ How sad is it that you don’t have know who your son’s caretaker is?!” Gaster flinched in shock and then sputtered, “ Y-you’re the goat monster Sans hired?!”

“ YES!” Asgore spat and Gaster looked like someone had just poured itching powder in his pants. 

“ Does he live to make my life more complicated?” Gaster asked bitterly, more to himself than anyone else in the room. 

“ I don’t know!” Asgore answered, turning up his snout at Gaster as if he was something disgraceful, crossing his large arms over his chest. “ Humph! I still can’t believe they’re your children! Actually-that makes a whole lot of sense!” He looked back at him with an accusing expression, “ Do you know how Sans treats Papyrus?!” Gaster looked to the side with a cringing expression and cut off the scolding goat monster, “ Where is Sans anyway?” 

Asgore ‘humph’ed again and looked to Red, “ Isn’t he right there?!” Red was vaguely reminded of somebody by this goat monster but couldn’t place it at this exact moment. Gaster sighed with annoyance and answered, “ No.” He looked back to Asgore with a serious manner, “ Where did he go?” 

Asgore started with a grumpy scowl, “ You don’t even know? Angel help us.” He rolled his eyes before looking back to Gaster with a judgemental gaze, “ He went to work I assume, said he would return at six.” Gaster’s eyes bulged, “ What?! In his condition?!” Asgore shrugged, “ He seemed fine to me.” 

“ Urgh!” Gaster brought a hand to his face in exasperation, “ I can’t deal with this, I’m going to kill him.” Red looked between them with a curious yet jaded expression, so? What the hell was their relationship? Ya know what, he didn’t care. This was their weird deal. Sounded like they had more problems than his family, which was saying quite a lot. 

“ listen, uh, i followed ya, i wanna talk to Papyrus.” 

“ So, he isn’t Sans?” Asgore asked, looking at Red with a wary, inspecting expression, like he was a martian. Gaster growled out, “ No.” clearly looking irritated and then looked to Red, “ Sure, he should be, um, somewhere.” 

“ Upstairs.” Asgore corrected with the squint of his eyes and a critical expression. Gaster brought his hands up, waving him off. Red hurried past them as ‘Asgore’, apparently, started asking more questions as to explain his existence. Red looked around the small townhouse with unsure eyes. The stairs creaked as he walked up them, reminding him of their own worn stairs at home. The space was spartan, quite clean, not overly decorated, no photos hung on the walls. 

The old red paint on the walls was chipped and some siding along the floor had begun to slowly separate from the wall, the place had been thrown hell and despite the persistent efforts of whatever dutiful monster tried to clean it, it seemed like it would take more than a dusting and good sweep to make this place truly decent-looking. Red wasn’t sure quite where ‘upstairs’ his desired Papyrus laid, but luckily there wasn’t many places he could be. There was four rooms along a narrow hallway, two of which was open. Red could see in to see an old-fashioned small bathroom with cracked tile and kiddish toothpaste sitting out on the counter. Did a child live here? 

The other two doors were shut and while Red usually wouldn’t care about being polite, the shady guy downstairs had a gun so he decided it was best to watch himself and not open them up without permission, or at least without knocking. The last door at the end of the hall was wide open as if someone had purposefully left it that way, Red creeped up and put his hand on the door frame hesitantly, glancing in. 

It was an utter disaster, it gave him a bit of nostalgia for his no longer existant room at his own house. Dirty clothes laid on the floor, along with tons of scattered trash, cigarette buds, soda cans, stains of various variety marked the carpet. It was dimly lit and smelled faintly of weed. Sunlight shined in through a padlocked window. He looked and saw a slightly surprising sight of a long-limbed skeleton laying limp and unmoving on an unmade mattress in the center of the floor. The fact that his bed lacked a frame or he was sleeping wasn’t that unusual, though Red was definitely getting the feel this guy acted more like him and Weedbag than Boss or Classic’s chipper brother, someone even remotely similar to Boss would NEVER live in such a mess. What was off-putting about the sight was the fact that the stranger wore brightly colored blue fleece pajamas with orange cartoon faces of cute dogs and cheery felines. The outfit looked like what something a toddler wore in some overly adorable holiday ad glorifying Christmas morning, only they fit the stranger perfectly and Red couldn’t help but be reminded of some weird porn he had seen where there was monster chick dressed up like a baby. 

“ hello?” he greeted and the skeleton’s skull jerked up from its buried spot in the pillow. He looked over with bewildered sockets and then exclaimed, “ S-Sans?!” scrambling up to his bum, back pedaling with his hands and falling off the side of the mattress, “ wh-what are you doing back s-so early?! i-i wasn’t sleeping!” 

Red gave him a skeptical glance and Corn looked over the skeleton with a pounding soul, some sweat forming on his bones. He paused as he realized, th-that that wasn’t M’lord! Th-that was. . .the guy from the hospital?!

“ i’m here for my phone, asshole.” Red demanded, stalking in and making Corn shiver a bit, it wasn’t M’lord but Red shared his pointy teeth and harsh demeanor. “ i know you and your little snot-nosed brats took it.” Red accused, pointing out a hostile finger. Corn sweated a bit,“ h-how did you even get in my house?!” he exclaimed, did this psycho break in? Was he dangerous? Where was Asgore?!

“ you’re fuckin’ weirdo dad let me in.” Red replied, “ he mistook me for your oh so fearsome bro and here i am.” crossing his arms over his chest. “ now can i have my phone or are we goin’ have a problem?” Corn frowned as he pushed himself up to his tired, bare feet. He realized how much taller he was then this guy as he got to full height. He looked him over with careful eye lights, this skeleton’s eye lights were a curt slash of scarlet, currently inspecting him with hostility. He wore an ill-fitting red t-shirt and a big coat of black with fur-trim, lazy black gym shorts with a white stripe up the side, that and a pair of beat-up red sneakers. His clothes made him look compact and shorter than he really was because they drowned him in loose fabric, unlike M’lord’s tight and stylish pieces of attire and boots with a considerable two inch heel to try and make him appear taller than he really was. Corn felt some playfulness come through him, this guy looked like a chubby, lazy M’lord. 

“ i don’t wanna a problem, Ruby.” Corn replied in a low drawl, eyes taking on a subtle hunger. Ruby? Red thought with irritation, one of his eye sockets twitching. “ it’s Red.” he bit back quickly, “ now tell me where my damn phone is.” 

Corn let his skull sag to one side of his neck vertebrae lazily, “ i’m sorry, man, i just. . .” The taller, thin skeleton shrugged half-heartedly, “ i forgot where i put it, i didn’t mean to steal nothin’, just forgot to give it back.” Red gave a low growl, “ bullshit.” Corn shrugged again, it was the truth, but he wouldn’t be able to convince this dude of that probably. 

“ we can look for it together if you want.” Corn informed, going to put his hands in his pockets but then realizing M’lord had forced him to wear pajamas last night, instead of just sleeping in his day clothes as he usually did. Blushing a soft orange, Corn felt ashamed of being seen in such. . .an outfit. 

Red scoffed and fisted his hands in fists by his side. Damn it, this was fuckin’ annoying. Part of him wanted to just start breaking things, but this wasn’t his dorm and that wouldn’t help him find his phone any faster. 

“ fine.” Red growled, glaring at Corn with vendetta, “ is it in here?” Corn nodded calmly, trying to push his embarrassment to the side, “ yup, at least i think so, i had it in one of my pockets i think.” Red looked around at the slew of disgusting, unwashed clothes and then back to Corn with a look of dread, “ da ya remember which outfit you were wearing?” Corn shrugged, grinning slightly, “ all my clothes look the same, dude.” Red gave a groan and then kneeled down by the nearest pair of sweatpants, he couldn’t believe this moron was putting him through this. Corn felt a small smile trace over his skull as this Red guy was actually. . .going along with this? M’lord would NEVER, he’d scream at him for being a moron and then degrade him till Corn didn’t want to exist. Corn kneeled down and crawled over, grabbing up a t-shirt with more stains than his carpet, which was an accomplishment. 

Red wasn’t really that grossed out by the mess but felt like complaining anyway, he had a right to complain, “ you always live in a pigsty? or is that specially for visitors?” Corn, who had crept up to near his side, felt a bit of excitement at the comment. He wouldn't deny while M’lord degradation made him miserable, it also aroused him, all depended on his mood, which was usually sad so that made it less fun. This guy’s voice was more rolling than M’lord, lazy in his pronunciation, a strange accent that almost sounded like something out of Brooklyn. 

“ heh, i don’t know.” he replied with a calm smile, looking back into the pocket of a pair of shorts he forgot he even owned. Red yawned abruptly and Corn looked over with interest, he noticed the darkness under Red’s sockets and the sleepiness in his eyes. That was so cute! 

“ ya tired?” Corn asked, with light eye lights, looking over. Red looked over and denied, “ no. let’s just find this stupid thing so i can go home.” 

“ where is home?” Corn asked, sitting up a bit, abandoning the search momentarily to watch Red. Red’s eyes scanned the floor with a concentrating expression as he tugged over a worn hoodie, “ Snowdin, but, uh, i’m at New Home University right now.” he answered, being more focused on he search than anything. Corn thought a guy that looked so much like M’lord looked good on his hands and knees. He gave a soft hum, watching him, a warmth entering into his pelvic region, “ whatcha studyin’?” 

“ economics.” Red replied thoughtlessly, standing up to go to a different section of the floor, if it wasn't in here at all and this guy was fucking with him, he was going to kill him, whether his dad had a gun downstairs or not. 

“ fun.” Corn answered carelessly, laying down on his stomach, finding it was too much effort to sit up. His eye lights glued onto Red’s rear end as Red leaned down to pick up a jacket with a disgruntled expression. 

“ have a boyfriend?” Corn asked, smirking quietly, admiring from his place on the floor. Red paused at the question, eyes still in the pocket of some dirty coat. Did he? Loaded question. N-no, he most definitely did not! Boss was simply his shallow and thoughtless younger brother who had fucked him because-because Edge would fuck their dad if he could nut! Red felt some regret, their hook-up was just everything he had thought it was initially, an impulsive, stupid decision based on lust and a lack of foresight. Boss may have cooed in his ear afterward, saying how he wanted it to happen again, how he wanted to be with Red, the collar and everything. . .but Boss hooking up with Blue the second Red didn’t reciprocate was all the proof Red needed, Boss didn’t actually give a fuck about him, not as a partner, boyfriend, whatever you wanted to call it, and honestly not even that much as a brother. Edge never showed him any respect, lived to get under his skin and bully him for his own purposes. There was a reason Sans was the one sent after the drug-taking debtors in Home and not Papyrus, Edge didn’t want to be the one to end up with the bruises. 

“ n-no.” he replied, glancing over with ruffled irritation, trying to shake away his mourning. It was fucking stupid. Did he ever even want to be with Boss? They were brothers, Edge was an asshole, how fucked up was Red for ever desiring such a thing? He looked down to this Weedbag wanna-be who was laying down on the floor, not even pretending to look with him. 

“ why the fuck do you care anyway?” Red snapped, getting defensive, “ would you at least HELP me look for the phone YOU stole?! i could call the cops on you if i wanted.” 

Corn chuckled softly, “ that wouldn’t go well.” he replied and Red squinted at him angrily, “ you’re a shithead, ya know that?” Red reached down and grabbed up a tank top inspecting it for a pocket, “ don’t want to take any responsibility for your actions!” 

Corn smiled calmly, “ ya sound like my brother.” 

Red glared over, “ well, ya certainly don’t sound like mine, so i’m not interested in small-talk!” Red cussed under his breath and Corn felt the desire to rut his pelvis against the floor, he was getting pretty turned on, he resisted it for now. 

“ oh come on, Red,” he said the name slowly, “ you’re so uptight, you need to chill out every once and awhile.” 

“ i am NOT uptight.” Red retorted fiercely, Corn smirked and proposed, “ you should just hang for a little bit, we can find your phone later. we could smoke?”

Red glared at him, feeling his anger rise above a undescribable level. Th-this little-agh! “ shut UP! SHUT UP! i’m so DONE with you Papyruses’ irresponsible shit! Weedbag’s overdosing, my Boss being a evil bitch as usual, and you!” Red pointed an aggressive finger at Corn, steam escaping his skull, “ you’re the most insufferable thing i’ve come across in my whole life! you took my shit without my ok and now you’re just laying on the ground like some stupid worm, offering me fuckin’ drugs, are you STUPID?! think gettin’ me high will make me forget about my three hundred dollars sitting around somewhere in a pair of your dirty underwear!” 

Corn moaned openly and Red froze, blinking widely. What the-? “ call me a worm again.” Corn pleaded with an erection forming on his pelvis, it being shoved into the carpet as of now. His breath was heavier and his eye lights had taken on a hazy quality. Red blushed slowly, grasping what he had ended up doing. Wh-what the fuck? He flushed further, bringing his pointer finger down to his side. Th-the spiked collar on this guy’s neck made a little more sense now. H-he was some kinda masochist?! 

Corn looked to him, sockets warm and almost happy looking, his panting filling the room as Red was frozen stiff. Red felt a little guilt about being so perverted around Weedbag all of a sudden. He'd never really been on the other side of it, th-this was uncomfortable as hell!

“ u-um,” he stuttered, “ i-uh,” Corn gave a small whine to encourage him, he felt so relaxed. He could never get away with this shit with M’lord, Ras would beat him till he couldn’t move, but this guy, Corn could be as disgusting as he wanted, heh. 

“ pl-please,” Corn begged, letting his orange tongue summon up and loll out of his mouth slightly, “ i want it really bad.” 

Red blushed further and blurted, “ n-no! no way!” Turning away, crossing his arms over his chest, he demanded, squeezing his sockets shut in embarrassment, “ wh-what the fuck?! i don’t even know you!” Corn chuckled huskily, finding the denial nothing short of adorable. He got up slowly, like a long-limbed predator standing to its feet in the savanna grasses. “ oh, i’m beggin’ you,” His boner made it slightly strange to walk but he quickly made his way over to Red regardless, “ call me a dog, i’m so gross. please, please.” Red looked to him with panic as he realized Corn had gotten up and came up behind him, thin hands touching over his shoulders. Red spun with speed, getting into a defensive attack pose. 

“ h-hands off, buddy! i told ya no!” 

Corn made a low groan of heat and aggravation. Red couldn’t not look down to the bulge in this stranger’s pants, releasing a strong orange light and the outline of a hard cock. He was reminded of Edge’s length in an involuntary way and a flash of arousal passed through him. 

Corn got the idea begging wouldn’t convince this guy, he knew keeping the phone hostage wouldn’t convince him either, just feelings he got from this guy’s personality, well then, he’d have to give up he guessed. Give up on using words. He found monsters listened to their bodies better anyway. 

He lunged forward, his white eye lights flashing orange for a split second. Red gasped in shock as they tumbled to the ground, him cursing as his skull hit the ground. 

He tensed, rage filling him, as he felt this stranger’s hands groping at his pelvis through his shorts. Scarlet on his skull, he roared, “ OFF!” pushing up with his one free hand and struggling underneath the skeleton, he luckily was lighter than Red would have thought. Corn cussed softly, breathing heavily as he found he was having trouble keeping Red’s arm pinned. It sort of pissed him off, he remembered back when he could hold down a monster his height with minimal effort, now he was struggling to hold down a guy who only came up to his shoulder. 

“ i’ll kill you!” Red cursed and Corn was considering giving up when he froze, letting Red shove him off, he heard footsteps coming up the steps. Asgore. Damn it. 

Red cracked a fist into his face and Corn gave a small cry of pain as he fell back onto his back, “ you fuckin’ asshole!” Red screamed, feeling so enraged and shaken he could explode into a thousand fire embers. “ how dare ya try that shit on me!” 

Corn stayed weakly on the floor, looking up pitifully as large footsteps entered into the doorway. A deep voice exclaimed, “ What is going on in here?!” Asgore looked between the two skeleton with concern, coming over to check on Papyrus, who was on the floor. Corn sat up, shoulders lowered, frown on his face, and Red spat, “ he’s a psycho!” at Asgore, “ that’s what’s going on!” Asgore looked to Papyrus with concern, bringing a furred paw to hold onto his shoulder. 

“ i-i-” Corn began weakly, some tears forming in his sockets, “ i’m sorry, i-i was just tryin’ to be nice.” He snuggled into Asgore’s chest, sniffling, “ A-Asgore.” Asgore wrapped a protective strong arm around his fragile and helpless charge, his fatherly instincts roaring up in him. He glared at Sans and barked, “ What did you do?!” 

“ what did ‘I’ do?!” Red exclaimed in disbelief, still being angry and overwhelmed, in shock and feeling humiliated. “ he’s the one who attacked ME!” he fought and Corn gave a soft, pathetic cry, wrapping his arms around Asgore, “ th-that’s not true! i-i-” he sniffled, letting the tears stream down from his sockets, “ i was just tryin’ to make a friend!” 

“ he’s fuckin’ lying!” Red demanded and Asgore looked to him with blazing eyes, “ You need to leave, NOW, before I throw you out myself.” Red grit his teeth, one eye glowing its bright red, furious ring. He spun on his heel, feeling as if he’d be happy to burn all of New Home to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you're reading? Support me by buying my original work called 'Stars' by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


	39. A Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending you all have been waiting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, I can't believe we're at the end! Sorry this is a day late! It was just so long! I love this ending and I hope you do too! Read my notes after you're done with the story for more info on this story, its sequel, and other coming works. <3 Thanks to everyone who has stuck through this work to the end. I'm glad I could bring some enjoyment to your lives. :) Now, without further ado, enjoy the finale of Modern Mix!

“ . . .Weedbag?” Red creaked open the door to the dorm room, it was quiet and he hadn’t liked it. The room to the Quad had been left open so Red had just helped himself inside. If anyone asked, he was checking in with Weedbag, after his OD and everything, but honestly, . . .Red didn’t really want to be alone in his dorm. He was really confused, yet angry, and felt j-just gross after that strange Papyrus tried to do, ugh, who knows what to him back in the guy’s room. H-he didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t fought back, it made him sick and kinda sad? Red didn’t know, it was laughable really. What was laughable? Well, heh, everything really.

“ Weedbag?” He entered into the dorm that was surprisingly clean. There were two beds and two desks on opposite sides of the room. The walls were decorated with a bulletin board with random papers and some pictures of celebrities, female human, stabbed into it. There were two dressers and Red turned in shock as someone came out of the closet, their skin was green, they had two curving horns, they were shorter than Red and had two short arms and legs. 

“ Oh. If it isn’t the biggest asshole on campus.” Loox greeted with a glower. Red gave Loox an irritated look, “ where’s Weedbag?” He didn’t have the time for this guy’s bullshit, not today. He knew he had kinda started the beef between them by provoking him in the hallway that one time, but, eh, if he gauged conflicts by if he caused them for not, then he asked that random Papyrus-look-alike to attack him by showing up in his house alone. 

Loox looked down with an angry expression, “ Hell, if I know, I don’t care either.” He pulled a stack of button down shirts out of the closet, “ That addict is on his own.” Red looked to him with slight confusion as the smaller monster walked across the room and began to pack the clothes into an open duffle bag. 

“ i-i thought ya were friends?” Red asked, remembering how Stretch was always hanging around him. Loox looked back at Red with anger, “ Not anymore, I’m leaving and finding a new roommate.” Loox explained with anger, “ That guy brought Special K in here, we would have gotten expelled in two seconds flat if anyone caught it in our room. Says he didn’t know what it is, is he fucking picking on me?” Loox shoved the clothes down with aggression, zipping the bag up. “ Who doesn’t know what that is.” 

Red uneasily stepped into the room and brought his arms over his chest, looking around, apparently Stretch was out. The guy should be resting after yesterday, but I guess with your roommate freaking out and leaving you, you might want some space. 

“ well, ya know, weed could get you kicked out too.” Red said hesitantly, and Loox scoffed in annoyance, grabbing some pencils and notebooks from a drawer of his desk. He paused to look at Red, “ Weed can’t KILL you. I was the one who found him ya know. I had to drive him to the hospital cause I didn’t want anyone asking questions about the k powder all over OUR room.” Loox pulled out some of his shit and Red’s sockets widened a bit in surprise.

“ he. . .he coulda died.” Red’s voice came out kinda sharp, Loox looked over with a skeptical eye. “ ya shoulda called an ambulance.” Red said with a critical expression. 

“ Oh, now you’re on Team Stretch? He hates ya, ya know.” Loox spat, making Red stiffen, “ He says you’re a giant dick, not that Stretch doesn’t have an interest in those, so maybe it makes sense.” Loox rolled his eye, finishing lowly, zipping up his backpack. 

Red felt some anger in his chest. “ he’s straight, ya know?” he retorted harshly and Loox looked over with a scowl of sharp teeth, “ As a circle.” Loox pulled up his bags and said, “ Whatever, you want his troublesome ass to be your problem? Have fun. I’m officially done cleaning up his messes.” 

Red glared at him as he began to walk towards him to the door and felt the need to say, “ Stretch is a really good person. . .” Loox gave him a cocked eye, “ -ya know that, right?” 

Loox scoffed and pushed past him, making Red flinch in rage at being shoved past. He held it together knowing he wouldn’t be welcome in Stretch’s room if he started a fight, apparently the guy wasn’t fond of that. 

Loox left and Red was left alone in a room that wasn’t his, staring around at the things he was incapable of understanding. The spartan state of the floor, he would have imagined Weedbag’s room floor would look alot like his, trashed. Red remembered Stretch’s room back at his house in Snowdin looked like that. Red had been there dozens of times over the years, when they were in middle school they’d giggle and laugh in there until the latest hours of the nights. In high school, everything was more complicated and he only showed up on miscellaneous occasion, to collect something Boss wanted, to ask Stretch for some homework, impersonal stuff like that. 

He wandered over to the desk, that wasn’t cleared off in a hurry, and saw a stack of textbooks near a stack of books on marijuana. Red looked over, recognizing these as ones he checked out to him. There were a few pens on the desk but other than that it was clean. Opening one of the cannabis books, Red frowned as he confirmed the suspicion; long overdue. He closed it and put it back on the stack. He felt weird, he glanced back to the open door, looking for a maybe an incoming Stretch, he felt like he was snooping. 

Being bored and not having that much morally against, he decided to fuck it. He pulled open the first drawer in the desk and gagged instantly at the horrifying scent that came out. It was a rotten, awful smell mixed with heavy, suffocating cologne. One had been clearly used to try and disguise the other, but it just added to the rancidness and Red wasn’t an easily disgusted person. Squinting he made out half-eaten green slice of pizza, a rotten banana, cucumber, a bag of spilled chips, crumpled papers, water-stained and covered in some kind of pink goo. What the fuck, ew. He closed it and shook off the strangeness, taking a deep whiff of the room to hopefully forever cleanse his nosehole of that unbelievable horror. 

Unable to not know now, he opened the next drawer and found another tray of horror. This one had less month old food, making it smell slightly better, but had old socks and empty bottles of honey, which had made the drawer sticky and nasty in its own right. Well, he guessed Stretch hadn’t changed at all from high school, simply learned how to hide his mess well. 

The other drawers were similarly trashed, except one near the top which held a black notebook with a leather cover, Red glanced to the door again, and then pulled it out. He opened the notebook and immediately a bunch of pictures dropped onto the floor. Red cussed and then looked to the door again. All clear, he got down on his knees, with some sweat on his skull, to collect the pictures.

He looked at them as he began to pick them up. They were of Blue mostly, Blue and Stretch together, at places like the summer fair, at the park, on the couch, Blue usually hugging him tightly and Stretch laughing happily. There was pictures of Stretch at Muffet’s with the spider monster owner and with many other patrons. The pictures there were at an angle where you could tell Stretch was the one taking them. There was some with Stretch’s dad, hugging him as enthusiastically as Blue ever had. Red went and carefully put them away, if the Weedbag. . .f-felt the need to keep these nice when some much else was disgusting, he obviously really cared about them. 

The last picture Red picked up was in black and white, as crisp and clear as the others, so clearly altered that way by a filter and not an old camera. It was of Blue; he was smiling, in a crisp, bright suit with a sparkling white tie, he looked to be slow-dancing with another monster. Red wondered if this had been prom, the other monster was as cut off as was possible without injuring Blue’s likeness. At the bottom, written in sharpie, a curly font said, ‘A Dream Knows What You Want’. 

Red frowned and put the pictures away, putting back the notebook the way it had been, sitting in the desk’s seat and beginning to click the top of a pen up and down. 

A while later, the door swung open, the one to the Quad, and Red stood up. Stretch walked into his room, with his hoodie pulled up over his skull, turning and closing the door quickly, not even seeing Red at first. Red looked at the door shutting and locking in concern and then he looked to Stretch. Stretch looked and jumped a little at the sight of him. 

“ hi.” Red said, shrugging awkwardly, “ th-the door was open.” he sorta lied. Stretch opened his mouth to reply and a drift of smoke left his mouth, “ h-hey,” a small cough, “ it’s all cool.” Red narrowed his sockets in confusion and then disbelief. There was a small light coming from Stretch’s right sleeve which was pulled long over his hand. Stretch confirmed Red’s suspicions as he raised a small blunt up to his teeth and took a drag. 

“ jesus.” Red said and Stretch chuckled calmly, looking out of it happy, as it pulled his hood off, “ hey, man, what’s up? i’m so glad to see ya.” 

Red put his hands on his hips in disapproval, “ you just ODed, i thought maybe ya would have enough sense to stay away from the drugs for a while?” 

“ heh,” Stretch let out some more smoke, “ hmmm.” He gave another laugh, he wandered over to his bed and flopped down, “ ah, i love this bed. it’s so good. i love it.” He looked over at Red, who turned to watch him, “ do you love your bed?” Stretch asked hazily. 

Red rolled his eye lights, “ whatever, Weedbag, if you’re high, i’m goin’ leave. i don’t know why i thought you’d be sober.” 

Stretch frowned at him, “ hey, i am sober.” He struggled to get his hand out from under him and took another drag, “ so sober, heh heh.” Stretch flopped his head down on the pillow and stared at Red dopily. 

Red shook his skull in disapproval, turning and leaving through the door. He closed it and hated he had waited around so long for nothing. He sighed as he leaned back against it, a frown on his skull. He didn’t like it though, was Stretch really so dumb he was willing to do that? Didn’t he want to take a breather? Get it together? 

Red had after he had OD’d, it was the reason he didn’t do any of that shit now, the reason he didn’t even drink. He had enough disturbing problems without adding more of them. Was the drug problem really a one time thing like Stretch claimed it was at the hospital? Red began to doubt. Was Stretch in such a bad place addiction wise, he needed it? Red didn’t even know. 

He started to walk off towards the door of the Quad, putting his hands in his pockets, trying to reason it wasn’t his problem. H-he wasn’t Stretch’s friends, Stretch had actual friends, they could help him out, or that Weedbag could call his dorky brother or dad or something. Th-they’d take care of him. They had to. Red shook off his worry, worried about Weedbag? What was he? Stupid? He pulled open the door with a frown, he was acting like that smiley-.

“ HIYA RED!” Red flinched, and then looked, and then did a double-take at the skeleton in front of him! Standing in all his magnificent glory, was a neon blue hat hanging off a round, shining white skull, to the side. There were soccer balls, that literally looked like they were snatched straight off a green field of grass, stapled to either shoulder of his startling white crop top with the stylistic words ‘RAD DUDE!!!’ across the top. He wore blue shorts with white pockets and blue nikes, tricked out to the tee, which Red couldn’t even imagine the price tag on. He produced an amazing pose, “ I AM HERE TO SEE MY FANTASTIC LITTLE BROTHER! WHERE IS HE?!” 

Red’s eyes went with horror to the taller monster behind Blue, in his, ah, fuck! sexy leather jacket and pants, grinning with curious sockets; leaning up against the wall behind the loud skeleton in front of him. Boss nodded in acknowledgement as he caught his gaze. Red felt his soul begin to pound and sweat begin to drench him. H-he didn’t know what to do! Wh-why were they-wh-why?! How?! UH-. 

“ IS HE IN HIS ROOM?!” Blue went to move in past Red, “ I didn’t know you lived in this part of the-” Red jumped in front of him, “ th-that’s-” He gave Weedbag’s room a nervous glance before looking back to Blue, W-Weedbag was high as a kite in there! Bl-Blue! Red didn’t know if Blue knew about Stretch’s smoking habits or not, but Blue surely didn’t know about the overdose, unless he did and that was why he was here? Maybe Stretch had called him? Th-that would make sense, right? But then why get high if his brother was coming? Red remembered when he delivered Stretch’s weed to him during the end of highschool, it was a secret then! Was it still?! 

“ u-uh, h-he’s-” Red’s eye light flashed to Edge, and Red had to look away for Papyrus was making him so nervous he almost couldn’t speak! J-jeez, h-he hadn’t even showered today, he probably looked like shit, oh, jeez, GOD, that didn’t matter, b-but, like-!

“ He’s what?” Blue asked with the tilt of his curious skull. 

“ Yeah, what’s wrong?” Edge asked in a teasingly light tone, coming up behind Blue. “ u-uh,” Red cleared his throat and forced himself not to look up at the tall, fucking stupidly handsome skeleton, he stared at Blue, “ h-he’s eating. . .at the mess hall. he’s, uh, not here.” 

“ Oh!” Blue chirped, “ Cool! Thanks for telling us! Look, Edge!” He looked to Edge with a bright smile, “ Your bro’s right here! What good luck!” 

“ Indeed.” Edge said darkly and Red felt himself sweating and unable to look him in the eye. “ uhhh, let’s go, to the mess hall.” Red found himself saying, “ i’ll, uh, take ya.” He grabbed Blue by the arm and Blue expresed, “ Really?! Thanks!” He gave a happy laugh, “ Mweh heh heh! Your brother is nice, Edge!” Nicer than I remember, Blue thought internally. 

A low chuckle that made Red shiver and want to disappear, “ I guess he is.” 

Ugh! This was awful! Red felt like he was going to die! B-but this was the best option for now, hopefully he could keep Blue busy until Stretch came down, if the idiot stopped now it would take at least an hour, probably one or two more, th-though that moron would probably take his leisurely ass time finishing the blunt and Red would KILL him if he had any more.

A-and, at this point, it wasn’t just for Red’s civic service for the month to be dragging Blue around, it was also because if Blue went off to the mess hall by himself, that would leave him and Boss. . .alone, in the same room! Which hadn’t happened in person since. . .Thanksgiving and-and RED WASN’T READY! To talk about it! TO really talk about it! Oh GOD! The little brother he had let pound him into the mattress was like two feet behind him and he couldn’t stop thinking about it! It was so embarrassing now! What was he thinking?! He wasn't thinking! Ah! This was awful!!!! And what about Boss’ weird comments about wanting to do it again! Red couldn’t have sex with him again?! And what about the colar, what if EDGE BROUGHT IT UP?! What would he say or do?! Oh, he had no idea! A-and, what about Blue? 

Red paid him a anxious look out of the corner of his socket, h-he was Boss’ current boyfriend, right? God, why? Why would Boss date him? Just look at what he was wearing? Red pushed his thoughts about Blue to the side, the point was everything right now was awful and horrible and awkward and confusing and Red wanted to IMPLODE AND DISAPPEAR!

They sat in the New Home cafetaria, Blue and Edge across the gray, plastic table from Red. The cafeteria was serving dinner now and the dinner crowd was coming in, despite this, no one else sat at their, for the moment silent, table. Red kept his head down, pulling up a spoon full of baked beans to his pointed teeth. He glanced up and Edge was staring at him with a smirk, smoothly crunching off a piece of orange pepper in his sharp fangs. Red looked back down immediately until Blue asked, “ So, um, when is Pappy going to get here?” 

“ oh, uh,” Red took a sip of his chocolate milk to avoid answering for a moment longer, then he looked to Blue and said, “ soon.” with a shrug, “ he must just be caught up in the crowds.”

“ Oh, ok.” Blue said with the nod of his head, “ He doesn’t have a problem with the crowds, does he?” His blue eyes showed genuine concern as he explained, “ I was worried when I found out this was such a big campus. He doesn’t really like crowds, so I thought he might have trouble dealing with them.” Edge snickered softly, giving Blue a small look Red obsessed for meaning in.

Looking back to Blue, Red said, “ nah, i, uh, think he’s ok.” Blue nodded with a bright smile, “ Oh, good! That makes me feel better.” Blue moved his plastic fork down to grab some of the lettuce leaves he had gotten in his vegetarian meal. 

Red thought back to the raging party he had found Stretch at and generally Stretch’s large mob of friends that followed him around campus, did he not like crowds? It seemed like Weedbag was right at home in them, at least to Red. Red vaguely wondered if Stretch was faking all his sociallty or if Blue just didn’t know him as well as he thought he did. 

Red gave a small hitch of air as something rubbed up against his lower leg. He shuddered at the sensation and looked across the table to Boss sipping his cola and looking to him. Red blushed, oh boy. 

“ So, um, how are you doing with your classes and everything? Do you like it? Being down here?” 

Red looked to Blue and took a few seconds to process everything he had said, “ u-uh, yeah, they-they’re good.” He leaned down and took another sip of his milk, having to close his sockets against the brushing, oh, fuck, it felt kinda nice. H-he hadn’t been touched by anyone in so long. 

“ Are you ready for finals?” Blue asked with big sockets, smiling politely, Red said, “ oh, yeah, uh, i mean, i don’t know. i guess.” 

“ Oh. . .heh, well I hope Pappy feels more confident about them than you do.” Blue began but quickly added, “ Though my Pappy is super smart, he always had a 4.0 in high school, he’s probably been hitting the books every night.” 

Red smiled forcibly, right, that was not happening. “ oh, yeah, i’m sure.” Edge gave another little snicker and Red blushed at the approval, still not looking him over. 

“ Yup!” Blue took another few bites of his salad and then looked around the crowd as if searching for his brother, “ Has he been getting to his classes on time?” Blue asked, looking back to Red, “ He likes to sleep in late, he IS a lazybones.” He smiled affectionately. Red sweated, uh, he didn’t know, he wasn’t Stretch’s fucking babysiitter, but by knowing Weedbag, yeah, he’d guess probably not.

“ uh, yeah, i guess.” Red replied and Blue grinned happily, “ Great! I’ll have to tell him good job for that when I see him! Oh! I should get him a present for it! R-right?” He looked to Edge for. . .his opinion? Red noted, watching their faces carefully. Edge shrugged, looking careless, “ Yeah, sure, kid. Get him whatever you want.” Blue smiled and asked, “ L-like a lion would?” 

Edge looked a little more annoyed, “ Yeah, sure.” 

“ O-ok.” Blue said, looking back down to his plate. Abruptly, he stood up and said, “ I’m going to go ask if they have a vegan dressing. Either of you need anything? The Magnificent Sans is always ready to help his friends get food!” 

“ None for me.” Edge said calmly with a smile and Red sweated as he stuttered, “ n-no.” leaving Blue to reply, “ Ok!” before wandering away with a powerful energy in his steps. Red gulped silently as they were left alone. He looked off to the side and only looked at Edge when Edge said, “ He couldn’t get what I wanted.” 

Red looked to him with a flushing skull, “ y-yeah, whatcha ya want?” Edge leaned an elbow on the table and put his lower jaw on his fist. “ He grinned, “ You mostly, in your underwear, on this table, begging and pleading for more as I pound you with my-.”

“ Oh, nothing.” Edge replied and Red felt a giant wave of relief and like he wanted to throw up. Edge looked him up and down with amusement, “ You’ve been quiet and tense, everything. . .okay, brother?” 

Red nodded quickly, “ y-yeah, of course, i’m just-just fuckin’ freaked out that you and your little bitch-” Red gestured over to the crowd Blue had disappeared into, with a distasteful expression, “ showed up here without any warning or call, ok? it’s weird.” 

Edge cocked an eye socket and said with a harder tone, “ I called you. You didn’t pick up.” Red blinked widely as he realized his phone, right. . . missing, still. . . “ Blue said Stretch wasn’t either, we didn’t have anything to do today.” Edge shrugged, “ We decided ‘why not’. Plus, with the whole OD, and everything.” Edge took another sip of his glass soda, “ I wanted to make sure you hadn’t done anything stupid or something.” 

“ oh. . .” Red said and scratched behind his skull, so this wasn't about Edge wanting sex or to talk about the collar or anything like that? That was all in Red’s head? Maybe, he sighed, he was always making his own problems, wasn’t he? 

“ well, he’s ok. i mean, not really.” Red gave a burp from the milk which Edge recoiled at, with a disgusted expression. Red continued on as if it hadn’t happened, “ he took ketamine, apparently, his roommate found him, who left him at the hospital's front door like he was garbage.” Red’s hand curled around his plastic milk container with a burst of anger, “ makes me really fuckin’ pissed honestly.” 

Edge watched him carefully as Red was relaxing now, “ the doctor said he’d be ok, although it was pretty serious when he got there. one of his friends got me and said i should go over, cause well, some people think i’m Blue for reasons around here.” 

Edge nodded and Red continued, “ so i went and sat by him and stuff and i called you, and i know you got it.” Red looked to the side, feeling weird but not ashamed of the message he had left. He remembered how desperate he had felt when he had left it. He had been really. . .upset. . .and. . .kinda scared. 

Red looked back to Edge as he finished up, “ Weedbag said he’d never done it before and it was a one time thing, and i thought he was tellin’ the truth, maybe he was, but he’s kinda a wreck right now, and so, i’m. . .stalling Blue so he can. . .get his shit together.” 

Red’s red sockets watched Edge for his reaction. Edge sighed in response, “ Don’t know why you’re bothering, that loser has always kinda been falling apart. Some people are born to do nothing but waste space and fill their head with dope.” Edge looked to Red and explained, “ It’s not surprising he’s gotten into harder stuff.” 

Red frowned, “ no, Stretch isn’t like the dopeheads ya sell ta, Boss. he’s. . .he’s just a kid.”

Edge scoffed with a confused expression, “ He’s my age.” Red looked to him with a subtly sullen expression, “ i know.” 

Edge said harshly, “ If you can’t get your life together on your own, then get ready to have it taken from you. The world doesn’t give a shit about your woes and worries, it’ll plow you over like a snow pile on Snowdin streets.” Edge reached into his pockets and pulled out some lasagna in a container, Red grimaced at its burnt texture and blackened color. So that’s why he hadn’t gotten anything. The orange pepper had been plucked from Blue’s salad.

Edge looked up with a smirk and bragged, “ No one can make lasagna as great as the Great and Terrible Papyrus can!” 

Red had to resist sticking his tongue out at how disgusting it was. Footsteps approached the table. “ U-um-” 

Red looked over and his eyes widened. “ jesus!” He got up and went over to Blue, Blue was standing, holding his hands up at his sides, unsure what to do with them. His white shirt was wet and stained a brown color, some liquid dripping down his spine and down into his shorts. Red looked him over with slight concern, “ what happened?” 

“ Um, mweh heh, um, I was just walking and some guy, he, uh, called me um a-a bad word and-” Blue looked like he was about to start crying, “ and then um, he must have tripped, because his drink landed on my shirt.” Blue sniffled and looked up, “ And now I’m wet and my rad shirt is ruined! And that means my whole cool outfit is too!” Some blue tears bubbled up in his sockets, “ A-aw, no,” He tried to wipe at them, “ I’m going to be mess when Pappy comes.” 

Red cringed, he hated monsters crying; he always was uncomfortable with how emotional and open Blue was. This was also more awkward because, there was no doubt in Red’s mind that the guy, who had thrown his drink, had thought poor, innocent Blue was Red and had treated him as such. 

“ uhhhh.” He looked at Edge for help, who gave Blue an annoyed expression.

“ Don’t cry, you moron!” Edge barked and Red cringed, that was the opposite of helpful! Never mind, he was reversing an earlier question, why was Blue dating EDGE? 

“ D-don’t be mean!” Blue hollered, deep voice cracking because of the tears. Blue looked to Red and Red was startled by the sudden question, “ Are people always so rude to strangers here? Because if they are I do not want my Pappy anywhere near them!” He sniffled loudly and continued to dry his tears. Red sweated and put his hands in his pockets with an uncomfortable expression. None of them said anything, unless Blue’s sniffling counted, and only the roar of the cafetaria could be heard for a minute. To break the awkward silence, Red said, “ uh, we could. . .go get ya a new shirt. uh, if ya want.” 

Blue looked to him miserably, “ It won’t be the same.” 

“ Yes, but at least you won’t be sopping wet.” Edge said, packing up his stuff, and looking over, “ Want Stretch ta see ya looking like you just came out of a rainstorm? You have to be proactive in looking for the best solution, not moping over your current problems.” Blue gave him a momentary sour look and then sighed, “ Ok.” he said weakly, turning to walk over to Edge.

Red thought for a moment and then suggested, “ we could go to the school store if ya want? they have t-shirts and sweatshirts and junk in there.” 

Edge nodded, “ Yes, good, that will do. Come on.” He started off, despite not knowing where they were going. Red went to hurry after them, but then realized his tray was still sitting there, oh no, that hotdog was coming with him. 

Blue was mostly over his crying by the time they got to the store. He had been to New Home a few times before, when dropping Stretch off in the fall, the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, picking him up for Thanksgiving break, dropping him back off after Thanksgiving break, the second hardest thing he’d ever had to do, and he’d seen himself around the campus a few times. It was big and the buildings were mostly gray and newly remodeled, they had a modern architectural scheme and the school colors were gray and white. It was boring colorwise in Blue’s opinion. The size of the campus, on the other hand, was impressive, if not a bit overwhelming. It was kind of impressive Red had memorized his way around such a giant place, impressive of Pappy too, Blue hoped anyway Stretch could find his way around. He felt personally he’d get lost if left unguided for two seconds!

“ this is it.” Red said, unceremoniously. He was up standing next to Edge, Blue a little behind them. Blue looked up the big sign and glass windows, he could see racks of clothes already, along with shelves of books and hats and pencils and pens and other such school supplies. 

They entered in and Blue looked around nervously, worried slightly Pappy would somehow be in here, buying some new pencils for studying or something. He had been so excited to see his little brother just a few minutes ago, but now he was wet and in a bad mood, and he wasn’t feeling nearly as confident to say what he wanted to say, being surrounded by all these tall, flawless walls. Pappy walked around these everyday, and probably never got lost with how smart he was, he probably knew every hall by heart, but Blue felt out of place and small, heh, not that that was unusual. 

He just. . .he couldn’t compare to all this, he, there was no reason Pappy would ever pick him over it. Who would? It would be a foolish choice. Maybe even a selfish thing for Blue to want. But Blue did want it, Blue wanted Stretch to say, ‘You’re the most important thing to me, bro’, in his lazy, high voice, his sockets soft with warm sunshine’s rays, ‘I would do anything to make you happy. I want to be with you more than anything else. I want to be around you more than anything else, because I love you so very much.’. 

“ Ok.” Edge asked, spinning around, making Red stop and look back too, “ What do you want?” 

“ Um,” Blue scratched behind his head, “ something white I guess,” Though there was no way he could recreate his cool soccer balls. 

“ i thought ya liked blue?” Red prompted, looking back with a lazy expression, his gold tooth in a neutral position. Edge strode away. Blue said, “ I do.” quietly, “ Just my ‘Rad Dude’ outfit has a white shirt so I thought maybe that would be better.” 

“ Found one!” Edge announced and Blue and Red both looked to find Edge holding up a white long-sleeve shirt with the New Home logo on it. He looked back and asked, “ Are you an XL or an XXL, Blue?” 

Blue stared daggers at him, “ Neither! I’m very fit!” he proclaimed with a stamp of his blue nike. Red looked between the two with worry. Edge turned with a skeptical gaze, cocking an eye, “ Really? I never see you working out outside, and to my knowledge you don’t belong to any gym.” Blue was as blue as a blurberry, “ SO?! That doesn’t mean I’m FAT!” Some monster in the nearby area looked over with curiosity. Red felt a small smirk coming up over his face at how flustered Blue was, sore spot much?

Red figured Blue had a physical body a lot like him and Classic, considering he looked exactly like them, and him and Class often joked about how hard it was to not to cross over the line of no return; 150 pounds. This was of course with ecto-flesh summoned. They’re skeletons, while their bones did become heavier or lighter or stronger, depending on what they did with their diet and physical exercise, they never got more than a fifth of their ecto-flesh’s mass. 150 pounds wasn’t that much for someone taller, but all the Sans were around 4’ 11’’, give or take a inch between them, ideally they should all be around 120, but they were heavy boys, it was just the way they were. Red had always wondered if it bothered the more active one of them, now, he guessed he knew. 

Edge raised an eye socket and took a bold step forward, “ Then prove it. You’re wearing a crop top, just summon up your flesh right now.” 

“ Wh-what?!” Blue exclaimed, drawing back in horror, “ Are you crazy?!” He looked like Edge had just asked him to chop off his own hand. He blushed brightly as he said, “ I-I could never do something like that.” quieting down some.

“ Then you obviously have something to hide.” Edge said dismissively, turning his back of the two Sanses to look at the shirts again, “ I’m going to go with XL just because I don’t think your as bad as my lazybones brother.” Red shrugged, a smile still on his face, at Blue’s embarrassment. On a fast heel, Edge turned to go over to the check-out. Red chuckled deeply, coming up to Blue’s side, “ charming, ain’t he? my Boss.” 

Blue looked to him with horrified sockets, “ No! He’s awful!” Red chuckled again, “ i know. come on.” 

They followed after Edge, who was mostly done with the transaction when they got there. He turned to them and thrust the bag into Blue’s hands, who took it with some shocked fumbling. “ Now, we go to Red’s dorm and you get changed there.” 

“ O-ok?” Blue replied, finally getting the bag to be still, “ You didn’t even ask if I liked the shirt, you know.” Edge waved him off, “ It’s a shirt, it will work. Sans.” He looked to Red and Red nodded, “ yeah, Boss, let’s go.” and Red began to lead them out of the store. 

Blue looked between the two of them with confusion and duress as he followed after them. Edge was such a brute! And Red! Red just went along with his meanness! Charming?! Red seemed like he might even LIKE the brutishness and it was just so weird and horrible!

Blue just wanted to see Pappy and tell Pappy he was sorry for not answering his calls and hang out with him and tell him how much he missed him and then, maybe, tell him how much he really really really really really REALLY REALLY missed and then, maybe, explain how weird his feelings were and-and how he loved Pappy so much and just wanted to live with him like he always had, and he didn’t know what that meant, didn’t know if that meant he was love with him like a boyfriend and girlfriend love, he just knew that he did love Papyrus and admired him and treasured him more than anything and wanted to protect him and appreciate him forever and always be by his side; always. 

Ahh, Blue sighed, following the two Fells. He envied that these two at least seemed to understand each other. Edge was a brute and he wanted Red to let him be brute and Red did so graciously. Holding the bag close to his chest, Blue hoped Pappy could understand him that well and he could understand Pappy that way. That their souls could come forth and spill their contents and connect and talk in a way only intimate brothers could. 

Blue cringed with disgust as he walked into Red’s disgustingly messy dorm and his only solace was that Edge looked equally disgusted. Edge looked at Red with disappointment, “ I don’t know why I expected anything more.” Red chuckled, shrugging his shoulders, a bit of sweat on his skull.

“ what can i say, MESSt ya be so cruel?” 

“ Ugh!” 

“ Stop!” Edge and Blue exclaimed, making Red smile a little more falsely, jeez, tough room. 

After Blue and Edge had gotten over the pun, Blue asked, looking down at the trash like it might jump up and bite him, “ Is there anywhere I can change?” Red shrugged, “ what’s wrong with here?” 

Blue blushed, Edge looking around with interest, his eye lights caught something and a smirk spread over his teeth. “ I-I can’t, you two are in here.” Blue said sheepishly. 

“ it’s just ya shirt.” Red replied, “ you’re not jackin’ off.” with a dry expression. Blue blushed fiercely and cried, “ O-of course not! Wh-why would you even be thinking of that, you pervert?!” pulling the plastic bag towards him protectively. Red gave a groan of annoyance, looking to the side. 

“ Yeah.” Edge leaned up against Red’s messy desk with his laptop, dangling something between his two long, leather-clad fingers. “ Ya pervert.” Red looked over with annoyed sockets and then they widened to saucer plates, “ Boss!” 

He bolted over, red quickly bursting out onto his face. Blue was still recovering from that super embarrassing and weird thing Red had said as Red leapt up, trying to grab the thing Edge held far up in the air. Edge moved it further up and chuckled with delight, “ Oh, it was SO disgusting, you still have it.” 

“ B-Boss!” Red called with pain and a little bit of pleading, reaching up for it and jumping a bit. Edge shoved a hand against his skull and shoved him back, making Red stumble a bit as Papyrus turned the tag to him, “ And what does it say here? Hmmm, Property of Papyrus, hmmm?” He looked back to Red with bemused and teasing sockets. Red was burning head to toe as he claimed, “ put it down, asshole! it’s not yours!” 

Red gave an involuntary gasp as Edge stepped closer and leaned down, “ Isn’t that the truth.” Red felt his mouth dry and soul explode out of his chest as Edge stared right into his eye sockets and for the first time today, he couldn’t look away. Red was frozen as Edge opened the clasp and then gently attached the collar around his neck vertebrae, Red trembling a bit as he finished. Edge looked him up and down and Red felt hot in between the legs, subconsciously pressing them closer together maybe to hide it. Edge brushed an arm along his shoulder, eyes getting more serious, “ You look fucking gorgeous in it.” he said in a lower way that made Red feel as if he was the only skeleton in the whole world. Ah, fuck, he was putty in this brat’s hands, wasn’t he? Papyrus, oh, he had missed that voice. 

“ yeah, Boss?” Red raised his arms around Edge’s neck vertebrae, lifting up on his toes a bit, “ anythin’ else i look gorgeous in?” Red asked flirtatiously, Edge was about to growl out something filthy, being more than excited his older brother was not only not resisting and also CONTRIBUTING?! Oh, it was all of Edge’s deepest, hottest dreams. 

When, “ I know! I’ll change in the closet!” He paused and Red did too, looking over and flushing slightly, clearing his throat. Red released Edge’s neck and said, facing Blue, “ r-right, go ahead.” Blue smiled at him happily, being oblivious to the now sexual tension in the room. He hadn’t thought much of the strange display. He scampered off, and Red turned back to Boss as Blue made a squeak of fear at the utter mess in the closet too! It was literally everywhere! Ew! He sure hoped Stretch had been taking better care of his dorm than Red was! 

Red cleared his throat again, face and pelvis hot, as Blue closed the door. He gave a small gasp as a strong hand grabbed him around the waist, pulling him in, close to him. He looked up, flustered at what he had just said, as Edge growled out quietly, “ I don’t want to stop.” Red shivered, oh, he liked that. N-no, he didn’t! He couldn’t!

“ w-we’re brothers, i-” Edge leaned down and cut Red off with a kiss. Red gave a small sound of confusion and he knew he shouldn’t let this happen, he had been doing so well, and yet here they were, Blue in his fucking closet and Edge wanting to smash less than ten feet away from said closet. Edge’s teeth were so warm and strong, Edge brought a hand around his lower back and pulled him close. Red had had such a stressful day, his missing phone, the freaky jerk trying to hold him down, all his mental drama with these two, ah. He brought his hands up to rest against Edge’s chest, he just wanted to relax into Edge. Let him take away all the problems of the world, at least for a moment. He returned the kiss slowly and it was a moment or two before they were using tongue, deep scarlet red intertwining like christmas silk. There was nothing more than touching one another like this, both skeletons were convinced. 

They managed to tear apart as Blue came out of the closet, both breathing heavily and looking frazzled. Blue was wearing the new shirt, fitting rather snugly, and he blinked at both of them with a smile, “ Everything ok out here? Kind of quiet.” 

Edge cleared his throat, “ Course.” he said to Blue, voice fighting for normalcy. Red took a moment to straighten his shirt, Edge’s hands had begun to explore beneath it. Edge looked to Red and Red looked back with a look of ‘I don’t know’. Edge looked back to Blue and said, “ It’s just, Stretch called me while you were in there.” 

“ Wh-what?” Blue asked with shock, “ Wh-why didn’t he just call me, o-oh my goodness, I-, what did he say?!” looking desperate, throwing his hands out. 

“ He said he wanted to meet you in Asgore Hall on the tenth floor. He said he’s waiting.” Edge replied and Blue nodded, “ R-right!” H-he, Pappy was waiting for him?! Red must have texted him, oh my gosh, Blue’s soul started beating extra fast. P-Pappy. He tightened his grip on the New Home school store bag with his soiled Rad Dude shirt and NTT brand fashion soccer balls. 

Red nodded and added, “ uh, it’s straight down the main avenue, large goat king statue out front, c-cannot-” He cleared his throat, “ -miss it, kid.” 

Blue nodded and said, “ Thanks!” sprinting to the door, “ Text me when you’re ready to leave, Edge!” he called and Edge nodded, “ Will do.” Blue ran out and slammed the door shut behind him. 

Edge immediately moved back in to embrace Red, Red began to pant without restraint as Edge drug his hands down his back and spine. Edge leaned down and whispered, “ That should buy Weedbag enough time, right?” 

Red chuckled huskily, reaching down under Edge’s waistband, “ oh, yeah, but i’m more concerned about us. ya still have ya pants on and heh, that kid runs fast.” Edge smirked along with Red as they let their passions control their better sense; what a sweet sin to delight in.

Blue climbed flight after flight, knowing he didn’t probably have to run, but not wanting to keep Pappy waiting for even a moment longer than he had to. His bones buzzed with nervousness. What would he say? What would Pappy say? He was so curious, so eager to see him again. His little brother who he loved so much, so much. 

Reaching the top floor, he looked around, it was a large building but he searched every inch of the floor. Breathing heavily, he pulled out his phone to check to see if Pappy or Edge, with any information pertaining to Pappy, had texted him. He couldn’t find him anywhere up here. He walked over to a display of long glass windows, staring out over the campus; it was dark now, the lights shown like golden lanterns in the sky. He looked out and decided just to call, he pulled out his blue iPhone and called his brother. 

“ *Breath* *Breath*” Click. “ Pappy?” 

“ oh my god, Blue! i-i’ve been so worried about you! you haven’t been picking up my calls and-” 

“ Pappy, I’m here.” 

“ huh? wh-what?” 

“ Asgore. Asgore *Breath* tower, o-or hall or whatever it’s called. Pappy?” 

“ y-you’re- what do you mean?” Stretch asked with confusion. 

“ I’m here *Breath* in the hall, tenth floor, Asgore Hall, by some tall windows looking out, *Breath* One of these dorm lights is yours. Heh, Pappy, I’m ready, I’m ready to see you. I’m tired of running away, and telling you I’m ok, Pappy,” 

“ Sans?” 

“ Get over here, heh heh, right now. . .please.” 

“ y-you’re in Asgore Hall, right? i-i’ll be right there. i. . ..i missed ya, bro.” 

“ Heh,” Blue felt some tears in his eye sockets, happy tears. “ Yeah, Pappy,” he nodded, “ Yeah, me too.” smiling and trying not sound shaky. 

Blue was sitting in a plush chair in a waiting area by the tall windows overlooking the campus. The elevator doors opened with a click and Blue looked to them in shock, h-he hadn’t even, there was an elevator? He thought in shock, oh boy, that training with Alphys is going to destroy me, isn’t it? That’s what he got for stopping his exercise training routine to try to get into a prestigious university. He needed to whip himself back into shape. 

Stretch came out, rumpled orange hoodie looking absolutely beautiful to Blue in the bright hall’s light, wrinkled khaki pants, orange sneakers, untied and unmanaged. Stretch looked over, and spotting him, immediately sprinted over. Blue jumped to his feet and encircled Stretch with his arms as they collided. 

“ Pappy!” 

“ Sans!” Stretch pulled away far too soon for Blue’s liking and said, hands still on Blue’s shoulders, “ my god, when did you get here? are you ok?” 

“ Mweh heh, of course!” Blue explained with a strong grin, he didn’t know why Stretch looked confused, he was the one who asked him to meet him up here in this building! “ I got here about fiveish?” Blue estimated, “ Hours ago with Edge.” 

“ WITH Edge?!” Stretch asked, looking instantly angry, looking around for the punk. “ where is he?!” 

“ He’s with Red in Red’s dorm.” Blue answered innocently and Stretch looked slightly relieved and slightly annoyed. He kneeled down and took Blue’s chin in his hand, which Blue was a bit surprised at, “ he didn’t hurt you, did he? you’re ok?” 

“ O-oh, yes! Edge didn’t hurt me! Just gave me bad advice that I obeyed of my own free will!” Blue revealed honestly. Stretch chuckled with a relieved smile, releasing Blue’s lower jaw, “ r-right, ok, that’s good. a-are you still a virgin?” he asked with a tender, concerned voice, and Blue blushed.

“ P-Pappy.” he mumbled, poking his fingers together, looking down to the ground. Stretch said gently, “ i know you’re embarrassed but i want to know, please.” Blue squirmed and still looking down said, “ Yes, Pappy.” Stretch sighed heavily in relief and gave him a strong hug that Blue returned. 

“ sorry i asked,” Stretch started quietly, “ i was just worried Edge had seduced ya, a-and ya deserve so much more than HIM for ya first time, ugh-” Blue could hear the anger in Papyrus’ voice and the way his hands curled into fists along his new shirt, “ -i would have killed him.” 

“ I-I would never do anything like that with Edge.” Blue said, head resting on Papyrus’ shoulder, face still flushing some, “ You know I’m waiting for someone special.” Stretch sighed again and pulled back, “ yeah, i know that.” giving Blue a smile, moving around the neckline of Blue’s shirt even though it didn’t need to be adjusted. Blue smiled at him and reminded, “ Just like you are!” 

Stretch stopped his adjusting cold and pulled back his long skeletal hands, “ yeah. . .right, of course.” He stood up and Blue looked up to him. 

“ Pappy?” 

“ yes, bro?” Stretch asked with a smile, looking down. Blue was about to start when Stretch asked, “ wanna sit?” referring to the chairs. Blue looked and then gave him a small knowing smirk, “ You just don’t want to stand cause you’re lazy.” 

Stretch chuckled, “ heh, yeah, got me there, bro.” He winked. “ i don't have a LEG to stand on.” Blue complained, “ No, Pappy!” a smile fighting through at his teeth helplessly, “ No puns! Heh.” 

“ i heard that.” Stretch said with a strong grin and Blue hit him playfully in the arm, “ No, you didn’t, lazybones!” They came and sat in two chairs closest to each other and the window. With the view below, Blue wished they were even closer. 

Stretch’s eye lights watched the ground below, and they sparkled with happiness, a smile at his mouth. Blue watched his face as if it was brighter than any of the lights underneath them. “ the view from up here, it. . .i always liked it.” Stretch explained, looking over to Blue, staring at him with such admiration, “ i have calc up here, see.” Blue nodded attentively as Stretch looked back out to the view, “ it made me think of how connected we are, i know maybe it sounds dumb, but. . .all the streets, lined by their street lights, they all connect to one another, they all past by hundreds of buildings, for class, for sports, for living, heh,” Stretch scratched behind his skull, “ sometimes i think about weird stuff. i just get these ideas, like we’re all more similar than we like to think, like somewhere sometime, we WERE the same person, or maybe each other, or, heh, something like that.” He looked over to Blue and blushed at how loving Blue’s countenance looked. It was so beautiful, the expression, that graceful smile, so content and part of his older brother’s face, his blue star eye lights so full of care, of willing to bend over backwards to take care of others, to take care of you. 

“ u-uh, kinda dumb, huh?” Stretch asked, looking away, scratching behind his skull. Blue denied quickly and zealously, “ No way! That’s SUPER cool, Pap! I think so too! I mean, we all just want love, right?” Stretch looked back over as Blue explained, “ Love and happiness and joy and other stuff, heh, sound right to you?” 

Stretch smiled slowly and then nodded happily, “ sure does, bro. you’re so smart.” Blue smiled cheerfully, “ Of course I am! I am the Magnificent Sans, the brightest bulb in the box!” Stretch chuckled in good spirit and Sans grinned, striking one of his fantastic poses. Stretch gigged some more and then sighed, leaning back in the chair, letting some long-held tension from his frame even weed and special k could not release. 

“ oh, bro, bein’ around you is the only kind of therapy i need.” Stretch said, letting his sockets close and Blue watched him with affectionate eye lights. He’d liked to fall asleep next to Pappy, he had done so before; he’d like to continue to do so, looking at that relaxed, peaceful sight every single night. 

“ Pappy?” Stretch peeked an eye open and slowly sat up, “ yes, bro?” Blue smiled and said, “ I just wanted to let you know how happy I am to see you, I know Thanksgiving wasn’t that long ag-” 

“ a lifetime.” Stretch cut off with a grin, before Blue could say more, and Blue’s soul swelled, Pappy really did understand. 

“ Right, yes! I agree, I just. . .” Blue looked down to his hands, beginning to hold over each other and rub at each other nervously, “ I just. . .” Stretch sat all the way up and waited for Blue to continue patiently. 

Blue looked up to his loved brother’s perfect white skull and then back to his hands, feeling his courage melt away. N-no, he needed to. He just needed to say it, right? Wouldn’t that make all these tearing feelings go away? He could move on with himself. Pappy would understand, and want him like he wanted him, or Pappy would understand but tell him no thank you. That was the worst that could happen and-and Pappy would still love him if that was the case, so he just. . .he needed to do this. 

He looked over and Stretch blinked as Blue said, “ Pappy, I love you.” All his feelings, all his longings, all his desires were contained in that. His pining like a sickness, his affection like a mother’s, his attention entirely and solely on Stretch; love. But he knew Stretch would not understand with that, and so though his feelings were already exposed, he needed to press on, to make sure Stretch understood how exposed. 

“ With everything I have, and I know you’re in New Home now and I’m in Snowdin, and I know you want space, and to be with other friends sometimes, and that’s ok, but I. . .I really love you, like-like-” Blue looked out the window, cause now that Papyrus might be starting to understand, he couldn’t look him in the eye lights, “ -like a lot. And I miss you all the time. And I want to be around you all the time. And I don’t want to be separate, I don’t want to age and become more distance, I want to age and. . .” Blue looked off to the side, taking a deep breath, “ and become even closer.” He looked over and Stretch was staring at him with wide sockets, Blue lost his tongue for a second and then said, “ I just love you. . .whatever that means, whatever I am, whatever this will or won’t be, I. . .” He grabbed onto one of his arms with the other hand, looking to the ground, “ I’m sorry if it bothers you. I just love you a lot.” He looked to Stretch once more and Stretch’s sockets were as wide as he had ever seen him, his expression like Blue had just given him a riddle that even he could not solve. 

“ I just. . .I want to be like it was when we were kids.” Blue smiled sweetly, hope and chance in his eye lights, “ When there was just us and love and no space in between.” He nodded and that was all he had to say. 

Stretch looked so surprised, not in a way that scared Blue, but in a way where you could tell he really had no idea this was coming, like the best ever episode of Scooby Doo. He kept looking to begin sentences but then stopped. He eventually looked to Blue and Blue waited, smiling patiently. 

“ a-ar-re-e,” Stretch was struggling to even speak a single word, “ i, i, b-bro, i-” Blue smiled with concern, “ You need a minute, Pappy?” he asked with a playful grin. “ i-i- just-i-” Stretch looked to him and stopped and Blue gave a chuckle, blushing slightly, just waiting now. Stretch looked so shocked, “ are you saying. . .you’re. . .in love with me? i-in a way like a-a girl l-likes a boy? like in a-a r-r-r-romantic w-way?” 

Blue nodded, “ Yeah, I’m pretty sure.” he answered honestly. He leaned forward, looking to Stretch and hoping his genuineness was understood, “ I think about you, dancing with you, snuggling with you, sleeping with you.” Stretch blushed brutally at that last one and Blue blinked, squirming a bit and his cheekbones heating, had he said something wrong?

Stretch looked away for a moment, bringing a hand to almost shield his vision, “ i-i think you mean sleep with me like in the same bed.” he offered back with a slightly overwhelmed grin. Blue nodded, that was what he had meant, he hoped he hadn’t said something out of place. Stretch nodded with a happy smile coming through his smile. 

“ y-you’re so sweet, i-i. . .i don’t know if i can repay that.” Stretch said honestly, scratching behind his skull. Blue felt his soul sink some, “ Oh.” he said softly as Stretch went to explain, eyes searching out in the dark cold for the golden lights, “ i just, i’m not nearly as smart and sweet as ya think i am, i lie to you.” he shrugged and Blue looked to him with concern. Stretch looked back over and then smiled weakly. 

Blue said softly, “ I lie too.” Stretch watched him carefully as Blue explained, “ I’ve lied to you for so long up until right now.” He blinked and his blue eyes said everything his words could not, “ This is the only time I’m being really REALLY honest, so please, tell me, can you love me too? The way I love you?” 

Stretch looked to him and took a deep breath, “ i want to.” he said finally and Blue’s sockets widened, what did that mean? He was hanging on so tightly, waiting for more, more; tell yourself to me, spill your soul like paint on a canvas, let's make this known, finally. 

“ i want to be good for you, you’re so good.” Stretch said, voice nearly breathless, “ i’m a mess and i know you deserve better but, i want to, i want to love you, i want to-” Stretch cut himself off, chuckling nervously, looking away, “ i want to do things you would never think, in a million years, of doing.” Blue watched his brother and he just wanted to shake the yes that was so close out of him. His soul was pulsing so fast in his ribcage Stretch was threatening to make it crack his ribs in excitement and suspense! Pappy! Stretch looked back over and saw Blue’s eyes clinging to him, a desperate expression on his face. 

“ i guess i want to say no.” Stretch said but then added before Blue’s heart could break, leaning forward, “ but i know i’ll never get this chance again. my dream has come true.” He reached a hand forward and Blue was out of breath as it brushed the side of his skull softly, holding warmly next. Blue looked to him with amazed sockets. Stretch gave a weak grin, “ i guess i’m tired of running too. i’ll date the shit out of you, bro, on one condition.” Blue watched him in stunned awe. Stretch winked, “ you be the girl when we go looking at the Christmas lights in Waterfall.” Blue blushed and smiled and some tears of happiness came to his eye sockets. 

“ Oh, Papyrus, I’m so happy.” he said, voice like cotton stalks in the summer.

Stretch vowed seeing that joy that he’d protect it to the end of time. 

And the lights of New Home shone on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My next work will be a Error Sans x Ink Sans dark drama involving the multiverse, very different from this story but if you are interested please come check it out. It will begin posting in a few weeks. The sequel to Modern Mix, or MM, is currently in production, and while begun, is nowhere close to being finished and I don't like to start posting works without them being finished, because I don't like to rush my artistic process. It will eventually go up, I just have no definite date yet for when. Thanks again to everyone who has read and enjoyed this story. Please leave a comment telling me what you thought about it and the ending, I personally love it! Blue and Stretch melt my heart! Please enjoy the teaser for the sequel! And read the author notes on that to find out more info on my original works! Thanks again! Y'all are lovely!


	40. Next Time On Modern Mix!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A teaser for the Modern Mix sequel.

Ras and Corn stood in front of their shabby, half-dead swatch of grass that was supposed to be their front yard. In front of the shuttered windows and old, peeling door, they stood on the cracked sidewalk. Corn looked at the townhouse with a nearly concerned gaze and Ras stared with a look of repressed emotions, a serious and dark mask. There was a harsh sign of wood smashed in the front yard's torn up dirt that said 'SOLD' on it. 

Corn looked to Ras with a look of wary as Ras said lowly, " I am so angry, dog." not looking at him but staring entirely and unmovingly at the house and yard. " I am so angry there is no possible legal outlet for my rage." 

Corn grinned nervously and falsely, wringing his hands together, " o-oh, M'lord, i-it isn't so b-bad, right? new place, new us? d-dad said i-it was only temporary anyway." Corn finished sheepishly, looking to Ras with meekness. Ras stared straight ahead as his expression twisted more to the uncontrolled fury he felt, " I could kill everyone in New Home right now. Burn down their houses and children." Corn sweated some and coaxed nervously, " pl-please, M'lord, it'll be o-ok," 

" Hi, excuse me?" Both skeletons looked up to the female woman in pink with yellow and red skin and horns, " Um, I just bought a house here and-" Corn leapt in between Ras and the woman, bringing his arms out wide like a shield, the woman startling. Corn looked back worriedly to M'lord. He did not want Sans to go to prison! 

" run, bitch!" Papyrus demanded, looking to the woman, " he's fuckin' comin' for you!" 

Ras said darkly, eyes still burning holes into the house siding, making it bend and quiver before his boring, rage full gaze, " I'm not coming for her, mutt. I'm coming for everybody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am an self-published author! Writing is my passion and while skeletons heat my sauce, they don't pay my bills. Please, I encourage you to check out my self-published original work!
> 
> My blog: https://cupidfish88.wixsite.com/danielastonebooks
> 
> My books:  
> Color Me Blue! Now available at https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Blue-Daniel-Stone/dp/1717858716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541447993&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+blue+daniel+stone&dpID=5182XWsbkyL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch! It's a mature story of pain, secrets, and sabotage. Please, please check it out if you have time! Thank you so much!
> 
> Stars by Daniel Stone. It's an Adventure story about a young girl trying to achieve her dream of becoming a warrior. If you enjoy my writing style, please consider checking it out. Find it at the following link https://www.amazon.com/Stars-Adventure-Novel-Mataline-Prescon/dp/1980296448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525026639&sr=8-1&keywords=stars+daniel+stone or by searching Stars Daniel Stone on Amazon.com. Thank you so much!


End file.
